[2] Born in Pittsburgh, PA, William Motzing attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York,[3] alongside Ron Carter and Chuck Mangione who would also become notable musicians.
From 1968 to 1971, Motzing also toured the world as sound designer for contemporary jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears through his job with the Clair Brothers (Audio).
[2] These include Peter Allen's "I Still Call Australia Home", which was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2013; Billy Field's "Bad Habits", the title track of Bad Habits (Billy Field album), the largest selling album in Australia in 1981 and for which he received a gold award at the 12th Tokyo Music Festival; Sherbet's "Howzat", reaching the top 5 of the UK charts and also entering the US Billboard Hot 100 chart; INXS's "The Swing";Jon English's Australian top 20 singles "Turn the Page" and "Hollywood Seven"; and albums for Air Supply and Billy Thorpe.
[2] Throughout his life he continued to study conducting with Ernest Matteo, Nicholas Flagello, Ionel Perlea and Olga von Geczy; composition with Ludmila Ulehla and John Mayer at the Birmingham Conservatoire and arranging with Rayburn Wright.
After retiring in 2011, he returned to New York to live with the family of his son, William John Motzing Jr., while he battled symptoms of SDS including paralysis throughout the body.