William P. Rowan

William P. Rowan is an American composer, organist, church musician, and hymn-tune writer born in San Diego, California, on November 30, 1951. Raised in a military family, he moved frequently during childhood. He studied piano performance and music history at Southern Illinois University and continued graduate study in harpsichord and organ at Southern Illinois University and the University of Michigan. His encounter with congregational song while singing in a Lutheran parish choir during his student years became an important influence on his later church-music work.

Rowan served churches in Michigan and became director of music ministries at St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing, as well as a liturgical consultant for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing. His output includes hymn tunes, anthems, organ music, and congregational settings. Representative tunes include MANY NAMES, STONEHENGE, PENET, BUTTONWOOD, and AUSTIN. His published work also includes Hymn Settings by William Rowan and other resources for worship.

Rowan's hymn tunes are generally written for practical congregational use while showing careful attention to the rhythm and rhetorical shape of modern hymn texts. His work places him among late twentieth-century North American church musicians who helped provide new melodies for the expanding body of contemporary English-language hymn poetry.