William Bennett was a renowned flutist with a broad repertory that stretched from standard works to obscurities, from the Baroque to rock and contemporary music. He was also a significant educator.

Bennett was born in London on February 7, 1936. His full name was William Ingham Brooke Bennett, and he sometimes used the initials WIBB as his name. He took up the recorder at age eight at boarding school and switched to the flute at 12. In London, Bennett studied at the Guildhall School of Music, and he avoided conventional military service by signing up for a three-year stint with the Scots Guards band. At 21, Bennett earned a scholarship that enabled him to travel to Paris for lessons with Jean-Pierre Rampal and later Marcel Moyse. Back in Britain, Bennett landed the position of principal flute with the BBC Northern Orchestra, and he has held orchestral or guest positions with a variety of English orchestras, including the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, and the English Chamber Orchestra. In 1989, Bennett released the album Celebration for Flute Orchestra, the first of his catalog of about 100 albums.

Bennett toured widely as a soloist and chamber player. His chamber music partners included two harpsichordists, George Malcolm and Osian Ellis, at a time when small-group music by Baroque composers was not so commonly played. Bennett also performed or recorded with Yehudi Menuhin, the Grumiaux Trio, and I Musici and, from time to time, with artists outside classical music such as Jimi Hendrix and Wynton Marsalis. He premiered works by 19th century flute composers, including Ferdinand Ries, Bernhard Romberg, and Paul Taffanel, as well as a variety of contemporary works written for him by such composers as William Mathias, Richard Rodney Bennett, and Raimundo Pineda. Bennett's recordings cover the standard flute repertory and appeared on a wide variety of labels, including Decca, London, and Hyperion. Bennett had a long career as a teacher at the Musikhochschule Freiburg in Germany and the Royal Academy of Music in London, and he was in demand for master classes in many countries. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire, and in later life, he received many other honors. Bennett died in London on May 11, 2022. ~ James Manheim, Rovi