A well-known teacher in the Bay Area of San Francisco, Bill Banovetz was a native of Minnesota and he studied there with Rhadames Angelucci at the University of Minnesota. He moved to San Francisco to study with Marc Lifschey and there he received a master's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As principal oboist with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, a position he held since the founding of the orchestra in 1977, Bill performed in the role of soloist in John Corigliano's Oboe Concerto for the 1997 performances of Tuning Game, a ballet by Helgi Thommasen. With the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players Bill gave performances of many world premieres by composers Richard Festigner, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Oliver Knussen and Arthur Jarvinen to name a few. Bill also performed as principal oboist with the San Francisco Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the San Francisco Chamber Symphony, the California Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the California Bach Society, the Cabrillo Music Festival, the Colorado Music Festival and the Santa Fe Opera. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley, at Mills College, and at the San Francisco Conservatory.

Bill Banovetz passed away on January 30th, 2001 after a long illness, due to liver failure. He was 48.

Banovetz played English horn on Mr Bungle's California.