Wednesday, May 16, 2018

John Malveaux: Tri-City News: God gives me complete scores, composer says

Gina Williams of Coquitlam, British Columbia
(Tri-City News)

John Malveaux of 
writes:

Composer Gina Williams shared the following article with MusicUNTOLD after a lengthy conversation with John Malveaux. 



May 15, 2018

Gina Williams has many natural talents.

The Coquitlam resident writes songs, performs around the world in multiple languages and acts on television series — most recently, Riverdale, Rogue and Haters Back Off!

And next month, Williams starts a North American tour to promote her latest album that contains eight tracks she said were gifts from God.

Olympiad, she said, is the result of “The Big Guy” telling her to publish a classically inspired CD.

“I heard Him say, ‘Do an orchestral album,’” the self-described “Jesus Freak” said as she easily switched between a pop standard and opera, from an Yamaha upright piano in her Blue Mountain Park apartment. “So I did.”

Luckily, she had a few original compositions up her sleeve when the order came down.

The daughter of a math and physics teacher, the former child prodigy said she conceived Olympiad at 15 after receiving complete orchestral scores from God.

But, at the time, she didn’t write them down.

Later, at the University of Alberta, where she earned her master’s degree in piano performance in 2000, the concert pianist would tuck away to scribble the notes she heard from up above.

Fellow students and professors would see her madly composing in the hallways — or on the bus, en route to school — but they didn’t reach out to encourage her, she said.

“I would write down all this music from God then just throw it into the drawer,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do with it.”

Soon, she started to realize her songwriting talent and others did, too.

In 1999, she received a commission to pen the anthem for Grenada’s 25th anniversary of independence. And, over the next few years, she self-published three albums — in three different genres — as well as digital copies of her sheet music.

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