Julius Penson Williams

Julius Penson Williams
Born (1954-06-22) June 22, 1954
The Bronx
Employer Berklee College of Music
Website juliuspwilliams.com

Julius Penson Williams born June 22, 1954 in The Bronx, New York, is an African-American composer, conductor, and college professor.[1]

An author of both instrumental and vocal music, Julius Williams has composed operas, symphonies, and chorus works for stage, concert hall, film, and television.[1] Primarily a classically trained musician,[2] Williams has shown his aptitude in writing in genres including gospel, jazz, and other contemporary forms.

Williams was educated in the New York public school system and graduated in 1972 from[3] Andrew Jackson High School a performing arts school in Queens, New York.[1]

Williams attended Herbert Lehman College and Hartt School of Music where he received his, B.S. and M.M.E. respectively. He was bestowed an honorary doctorate from Keene State College in New Hampshire. While in Colorado, Williams studied orchestral conducting and composition at the Aspen Music School in 1984.[4] Williams has over 33 guest conducting experiences, over 11 artist-in-residencies, visiting fellowships, and teaching positions. Moreover Williams has, also, received awards for musical excellence and contributions from classical to African American folk music.

He has studied, performed and taught, extensively, abroad from Russia to China.[5] Countless groups, choirs, and ensembles have performed and honored him for his musical inventions. Williams has written articles, edited an anthology, and submitted writings to journals on the music of African Americans.

Currently, Williams is a full-time professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA since fall 1998. He teaches composition, conducting, theory, and also runs the Berklee International Composers Institute. He is also the conductor of the Great American Songbook Orchestra.

People who Williams have credited as having influenced his music are Ulysses Kay, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Charles Bell and John Corigliano.

Appointments

Photograph

Served as assistant director of music at Abyssinian Baptist church in Harlem 1993-86

Artistic director of New York state summer school of the arts 1988-1995

Works

Choral

Instrumental

Instrumental works;[6]

Orchestral

Orchestral works;[7]

Discography

Appearances

Awards - July 1983

Musical Theatre (Compositions)

Film and Video

References

  1. 1 2 3 White, Evelyn Davidson (1996), 'Choral music by Afro-American composers; A selected, annotated bibliography', London: Scarecrow Press, p. 212, ISBN 0-8108-3037-X
  2. ↑ Faculty BiographyFaculty Biography, Berklee College of Music, retrieved 2011-05-30
  3. ↑ Jaques Cattell Press (1985). Who's Who in American Music, p. 676. R.R. Bowker.
  4. ↑ Handy, D. Antoinette (1985). Black conductors, p. 469. Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, NJ. ISBN 978-0-8108-2930-5.
  5. ↑ Berklee Today, Berklee College of Music, retrieved 2011-05-30
  6. ↑ "Julius Williams Compositions". Juliuspwilliams.com. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  7. ↑ "Orchestra Compositions". Juliuspwilliams.com. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
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