will
photo by Gabi Vanek
Will Yager is a versatile bassist/improviser committed to experimental music, improvisation, and collaborating with living composers in the creation of new solo and chamber repertoire for the double bass. He is a founding member of the soprano/double bass duo LIGAMENT and improvising trio Wombat. Performance highlights include appearances at Bang on Can’s Long Play Festival, Big Ears Festival, University of Iowa Center for New Music, International Society of Bassists Convention, SPLICE Festival, High Zero Festival, Experimental Sound Studio’s Quarantine Concerts, Omaha Under the Radar, SEAMUS National Conference, and the Feed Me Weird Things concert series. Yager is also a founding member and currently serves on the board of the nonprofit organization Bass Players for Black Composers.
Alongside his work with LIGAMENT, Will has also collaborated with other chamber ensembles including loadbang, earspace, and Semiosis Quartet.
Wombat, along with Justin Comer and Carlos Cotallo Solares, is an improvising trio dedicated to experimental and intermedia performance. Wombat has performed at the Oh My Ears Festival (Phoenix, AZ), MOXsonic Experimental Electronic Music festival, the University of Iowa Center for New Music, and tours across the country. Wombat has several self-produced recordings available on Bandcamp, including their most recent recording Burnt Ends. Will is also active in the jazz world and has performed with Gregory Tardy, Damani Phillips, Mark Boling, Steve Grismore, and others in the Iowa and Tennessee regions. He has an upcoming piano trio album with Dr. Geoffrey Dean and Hunter Deacon slated for release in late 2025.
In addition to his varied performance activity, Will is a devoted educator. He currently spends his summers on faculty at the North Carolina Governor’s School West, and in the fall of 2024, he began teaching double bass at the University of Northern Iowa. Prior to his position at UNI, Will taught at the University of North Alabama and Maryville College.
Will holds degrees from the University of Iowa, University of Tennessee, and Maryville College.