2026
- Pierre Boulez Concert Hall, Berlin — concert with ensemble
- Holocaust Museum, Krakow — concert for remembrance program
- Huey's PocketWatch Big Band — New York Public Library at Lincoln Center
- First Mauro Bardusco Award, Jazz & Wine of Peace Festival, Italy
2025
- Ellington in Mourning — BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, Lena Horne Bandshell (August)
- Black May Music — Bennington College
- Segue Reading Series with Marina Abramović, Artists Space, NYC
- "Artists on Artworks: William Parker on Jennie C. Jones" — The Metropolitan Museum of Art
2024
- Vision Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, New York (June)
2023
- Observations: Selected Works 1967–2023 published
2021
- Composed "Eternal Forgiveness" for Tel-Aviv Creative Music Orchestra
- Composed "Threnody for George Floyd" for chamber group and mezzo soprano
- William Parker Quartet, Philadelphia
- Taught workshops at Pittsburgh University, Rutgers, NYU, Columbia University, North Hennepin Community College
- Published Universal Tonality: The Life and Music of William Parker (Cisco Bradley, Duke University Press)
2020
- Trail of Tears performed at Roulette — music and words by William Parker, choreography by Patricia Nicholson
- Town Hall Concert: The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield
- Composed 100 compositions during the pandemic, dedicated to the unification of humanity
2019
- Reunion tour with pianist Matthew Shipp in France
- Trail of Tears Continuum at The Kitchen, NYC
- Dave Burrell's Harlem Renaissance at The Kitchen
- Farmers by Nature with Gerald Cleaver and Craig Taborn at Vancouver Festival
- Contemporary Ensemble with Hamid Drake, Serbian National Theater
- Residency performing the music of Horace Tapscott at Cafe Oto, London
- 4-day Residency at The Stone with 4 compositions for 4 different ensembles
- Premiered "Circulation of Celestial Triangles Leaving Imhotep Facing the East" for 8 trumpets, dedicated to Roy Campbell Jr.
2018
- Residency at University of Bern, Switzerland
- Hope Cries for Justice with Patricia Nicholson at Tulane University
- Duo with Milford Graves in Montreal
- Residency at The Stone with 4 unique ensembles
- Trio with Assif Tsahar and Hamid Drake — premiered new work in Tel Aviv, Israel
- Organ Quartet with Hamid Drake, Cooper-Moore, James Brandon Lewis in Roccella, Italy
- Cosmic Mountain Ensemble at Dizzy's Jazz at Lincoln Center
2017
- European tours with In Order to Survive Quartet and Organ Quartet
- Seraphic Light with Matthew Shipp, Daniel Carter at Tufts University, Boston
- Trio with Zhenya Strigalev and Hamid Drake in Lima, Peru
- Songs for a Free World — large ensemble with voices, Vision Festival NYC
- Residency at Cafe Oto London with John Dikeman and Hamid Drake
- Songs for Kidd Jordan with Dave Burrell, Hamid Drake, Darius Jones — Miller Theater, NYC
- Lecture at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem with Patricia Nicholson
2016
- Composed suite for ship horns in Halifax; taught master class
- Performance at the Whitney Museum with Enrico Rava and Andrew Cyrille
- Argentina tour with Tony Malaby
- European tour with Peter Brötzmann
- Toulouse, France: quartet In Order to Survive
2015
- Concerts in Chile with William Parker Quartet and In Order to Survive
- Premiered 5th part of the Martin Luther King Project at Roulette
- New Orleans concert with Kidd Jordan
- West coast tour with Brötzmann and Drake
- Taught at music summer camp in Denmark
- Japan tour with Evan Parker, Toshi Tsuchitori
- Joy of Jazz Festival, Johannesburg — Raining on the Moon
- South Africa duets with Oliver Lake
- Solo bass concerts in Poland and Belgrade
2014
- Sons d'Hiver Festival, Paris with Milford Graves Quartet
- Performance in Philadelphia with Bobby Zankel, Henry Grimes, Andrew Cyrille, Dave Burrell (dedicated to Cecil Taylor)
- Residency at Carleton University, Ottawa
- "Studies in Freedom" music/dance concert in Montreal
- Premiered "Flower in a Stained-Glass Window" — Martin Luther King composition
- Berlin concerts with Conny Bauer and the European Village Orchestra
- US tour with Peter Brötzmann and Hamid Drake
- Concerts in Istanbul, Turkey
2013
- Three-day concert series at Roulette: trio with Milford Graves and Patricia Nicholson; Alphaville Suite (string quartet and jazz quartet, performed to Godard's film); "Inscription" for orchestra dedicated to Cecil Taylor
- Toured America with the French American Peace ensemble
- Keynote speaker at the Guelph Festival, Ontario
- 5-day Residency at The Stone
- "Ceremonies" premiered with Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Poland
2012
- Duet concert with Charles Gayle in New York
- Performed excerpts from the opera How The World Changed Itself at Sons d'Hiver, Paris
- The Essence of Ellington — 15-piece orchestra featuring Kidd Jordan at Teatro Manzoni, Milan
- Toured Russia and Siberia with Hamid Drake
2011
- Live soundtrack to Sylvain George's film Qu'ils Reposent en Révolte, Courtisane Festival
- Composed for the AMR in Geneva (16-piece ensemble)
- European tour with Farmers by Nature (Craig Taborn, Gerald Cleaver)
- Brazil performance with Rob Mazurek and Yusef Lateef
- Led string orchestra performing music of Billy Bang at Vision Festival
- European tour with Amiri Baraka Speech Quartet
- Premiered The Essence of Ellington in Portugal
2010
- Live soundtrack for Godard's Alphaville at Nuovo Cinema Bologna
- Composed for Hocus Pocus Orchestra in Monopoli
- Other Minds Festival with Kidd Jordan and Warren Smith
- Performed with the Art Ensemble of Chicago in Philadelphia
- West coast tour with Eddie Gale
- Premiered The Trance Quartet with Bill Cole
- Tour of Norway with Frode Gjerstad
- Composed for 15-piece Bass Choir
2009
- Lectured at Sons d'Hiver Festival political/music conference, Paris
- Music/dance concert in Madrid with orchestra
- Residency in Milan at the PIM Theatre
- New Orleans Jazz Festival with Kidd Jordan
- Duo with Milford Graves in the Azores
2008
- William Parker Quartet in Moscow
- Curtis Mayfield project at Teatro Manzoni, Milan
- Norway with Rashied Ali and Charles Gayle
- European tour with Tony Malaby and Nasheet Waits
- Raining on the Moon in Tunisia, North Africa
2007
- Symphony Space: On Their Shoulders We're Still Dancing (Fats Waller, Duke Ellington)
- Blue Note Milan with Anthony Braxton and Hamid Drake
- The Math Festival with Anthony Braxton and Milford Graves
- Residency with David Budbill at Luther College, Iowa
- Premiered Expanded Humanity at Roulette
- By Any Means with Charles Gayle, Rashied Ali
- Concerts with Cecil Taylor in London, Reggio Emilia, Bologna
- Premiered string quartet On Being Native
2006
- Premiered Lakota Chamber Music for woodwinds
- Premiered Light in the Hall of Whispers for string ensemble
- Residency at Hallwalls, Buffalo — Looking for Cookie Gilchrist
- Duet with Hamid Drake at the Walker Arts Center
- Premiered Tutsi Orphans at Bang On a Can Festival
2005
- Tel Aviv with Roy Campbell's Pyramid Trio
- Voted Jazz Musician of the Year in Italy by Musica Jazz
- Residency in Hungary — composed music for multiple ensembles
- Duet with Joëlle Léandre in Le Mans, France
- Premiered "For Percy Heath" with Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra at Victoriaville Festival
- Taught at The New School music program
2004
- Duet with Milford Graves in New York (Vision Club Series)
- East coast tour with Peter Brötzmann Trio
- Curtis Mayfield Project in Rome
- Premiered Bass Quartet (Alan Silva, Sirone, Henry Grimes, Charles Gayle) at Vision Festival
- Artist in residence at Haystack Center, Maine
- US tour with Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake
2003
- England tour with Spring Heel Jack, Evan Parker, Han Bennink, Matthew Shipp
- Bass duet with Alan Silva in Paris
- Berlin Jazz Festival with DJ Spooky
- Premiered Healing Song at Tampere Jazz Festival, Finland
- Residency at the Djerassi Foundation, San Francisco
2002
- Mary Flagler composition grant — Universal Tonality, 15-piece ensemble at Roulette
- Duet with Peter Kowald at Victo Music Festival, Canada
- Newport Jazz Festival with David S. Ware Quartet
- Music and the Shadow People at Guelph Festival
- London Jazz Festival with Matthew Shipp
2001
- Earshot Festival, Seattle with Fred Anderson and Hamid Drake
- Blue Note New York with David S. Ware Quartet
- Taught at Rotterdam Conservatory
- Little Huey performed Distillation of Souls dedicated to victims of 9/11
- Premiered The Inside Songs of Curtis Mayfield
2000
- Premiered Kaleidoscope (Arts for Art commission) — Little Huey at 5th Annual Vision Festival
- Little Huey in "Interpretations" series at Merkin Hall
- Composed series for Swedish Orchestra and Dance with Patricia Nicholson
1999
- Little Huey at Alice Tully Hall
- Weekly summer performances at Tonic
- Banlieues Bleues, Paris
- Peter Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog at Victoriaville
- Tours of Japan and Europe with Intermission
1998
- Little Huey and Dance in Verona
- In Order to Survive in Nantes
- Intermission and Derek Bailey in Holland
- Little Huey in New Zealand/Auckland
- New England tour with David Budbill — Zen Mountain Zen Streets recording
1997
- Solo bass concerts in San Francisco Bay Area
- Trio with Eugene Chadbourne (tuba)
- Premiered Cells of Sound = Word at Lotus Gallery, NY
- Duo tour of United States with Matthew Shipp
- Tours of Ireland, Spain, Norway, Japan
1996
- Premiered Mass for the Healing World at What Is Jazz? Festival
- Solo bass concert series in New York and Virginia
- Little Huey at Panasonic Festival, New York
- European and Canadian tours with David S. Ware
1995
- Premiered 10 compositions in 8-week season with Little Huey at Knitting Factory
- Performed with John Zorn and Derek Bailey at Knitting Factory
- Taught spring semester at Bennington College
- Master classes at the New England Conservatory of Music
- New Orleans Jazz Festival with Kidd Jordan
- European tour with Peter Brötzmann, David S. Ware, Werner Lüdi
1994
- Founded the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra
- In Order to Survive concerts in Philadelphia
- Co-organized Stork Music Festival
- European and US tours with Rashied Ali, Peter Brötzmann, Bill Dixon, Milford Graves, Roscoe Mitchell, Sunny Murray, David S. Ware
- Artist-in-residence at Rotterdam Music Conservatory
- Composed for Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theater (Dvořák's Rusalka)
1993
- Founded sextet In Order to Survive (performed at Roulette and Knitting Factory)
- Featured performer with Muhal Richard Abrams, Billy Bang, Butch Morris
- Workshops at Bennington College
- Concerts and workshops with Roscoe Mitchell at CalArts
1992
- Solo bass concerts in Boston and New York
- Verona Jazz Festival with Milford Graves and Charles Gayle
1991
- Artist-in-residence at Rotterdam and Bennington College
- Total Music Meeting, Berlin, Germany
- Presented "Fire Cycles" of The Ghost Garden with Patricia Nicholson
- Composed for Marcus Dance Theater at PS 122
- Toured Japan, England, France, Germany with Cecil Taylor's Feel Trio
1990
- Composed The Ghost Garden
- Performed "The Water Cycle" for strings, tuba and dancer
- New England tour with Cecil Taylor Unit
- Estonia tour with Peter Brötzmann
1988–1989
- New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship
- Co-organized Second Sound Unity Festival, New York City
- Composed Orchestral Concepts series of large ensemble works
- Premiered Vision on an Ordinary Day at Cooper Hewitt Museum
- European tours with Cecil Taylor Unit
1986–1987
- Premiered Vision Peace and Battle Cries at La Mama
- Co-organized Lower East Side Music Festival
- Workshops with Bill Dixon Quartet at Middlebury College
- Japan tour with Billy Bang
- European tour with Cecil Taylor
1985
- Premiered the opera Becky Greybeard
- Presented Big Band pieces Vega and Rocket Man
- Concerts with Bill Dixon
- European tour with Cecil Taylor
1984
- Premiered all-star band at Kool Jazz Festival
- Co-organized international Sound Unity Festival
- European tour with Cecil Taylor
1983
- Premiered Inheritance for chamber ensemble
- European tour with Peter Brötzmann and Cecil Taylor Unit
1982
- Premiered A Thousand Cranes — peace opera with Patricia Nicholson
1981
- European tour with Cecil Taylor
- Composed The Peace Suite (choreography by Patricia Nicholson)
1980
- Composed Night Skies (choreography by Patricia Nicholson)
- Joined the Cecil Taylor Unit
- Played bass for Medicine Show production of Don Juan in Hell
1979
- Composed Light Slices My Heart (inspired by Aztec poetry)
1978
- Worked with Theatre for the Forgotten — workshops and music for productions including Joan of Arc
1977
- Composed music for Liberation Music Suite and Sun Garden
1976
- Composed ballet Dawn Voice (choreography by Patricia Nicholson)
- Worked with singer Maxine Sullivan
1975
- Played at the Five Spot with trumpeter Don Cherry
- Became a regular on the jazz loft scene
1974
- Played at Carnegie Hall with Cecil Taylor's Big Band
- Musical director of Centering Dance Music Ensemble, founded by Patricia Nicholson
1973
- Concerts with Frank Lowe at Ornette Coleman's Artist House
- Began relationships with first-generation NY avant-garde: Sunny Murray, Rashied Ali, Wilbur Ware, Billy Higgins
1972
- Created the Aumic Orchestra — 17-piece ensemble
- Residency at the Third World Cultural Center