Lehman College: 'Award-Winning Composer and Conductor Julius P. Williams to Keynote Lehman's Convocation September 15'

[Julius Penson Williams]

The career of Maestro Julius P. Williams is detailed at AfriClassical.com and at his personal website, http://www.juliuspwilliams.com.

Award-Winning Composer and Conductor Julius P. Williams to Keynote Lehman's Convocation September 15

September 2, 2010 | Lehman College

BRONX, NY—Lehman College alumnus Dr. Julius P. Williams, an internationally renowned conductor, composer and scholar, will keynote the College’s Convocation on Wednesday, September 15. The public is invited to attend this free annual event, which celebrates the start of the new academic year. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. in the Lovinger Theatre.

Born in the Bronx, Dr. Williams’s early interest in music led him to master a number of instruments, including the drums, violin, flute, clarinet and trumpet. Today, he is a prolific composer who has written operas and works for orchestras, chamber ensembles, dance, chorus, musical theatre and film. A classical pianist and composer-conductor, he is also a master of jazz, gospel and popular music forms.

After earning a B.S. in music in in 1977 from Lehman, where he studied with Distinguished Professor of Music John Corigliano, Dr. Williams went on to earn a master’s of music education from the Hartt School of Music. He has conducted at venues throughout the nation and the world, including a performance of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony in Russia. He was the first American judge for the international Rivers Composers Competition in Shanghai, China, and has served on the advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Williams also has been on the adjudication committee for the Fulbright Awards and an educational consultant to the Norwalk Symphony in Connecticut.

As music director and conductor of the Washington Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Williams conducted performances at foreign embassies, the National Cathedral and the White House. His compositions, which include “Meditation” for orchestra and “In Memoriam, September 11, 2001,” have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony. He is currently a professor of composition and conducting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Julius P. Williams & 'Moscow Conservatory Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra' in Verdi's 'La forza del destino' on Facebook Video

[Julius Penson Williams]

As noted on his page at AfriClassical.com, Julius Penson Williams is an African American composer, conductor, educator, recording artist, author and artistic director. His career is also detailed at his personal website, http://www.juliuspwilliams.com

A Facebook Video (7:38) provides a closeup view of his performance as a conductor. Maestro Williams and the Moscow Conservatory Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra are clearly in sync as they play their respective roles as interpreters of seven and a half minutes of the Giuseppe Verdi work La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny):

Facebook.com

La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny) Giuseppe Verdi [HQ]

by Julius P. Williams

7:38

Julius P. Williams, Serena Creary & Jonathan Holland Premiere Black History Works, Winchester, MA

[TOP: Jonathan Bailey Holland; CENTER: Serena Creary; BOTTOM: Julius Penson Williams]

The Taunton Gazette
Taunton, Massachusetts
Black History Month: Winchester's Alcyon Chamber Ensemble pays tribute to civil rights strides
By Staff reports
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 28, 2010
Winchester, MA

“Winchester’s Alcyon Chamber Ensemble ushers in Black History Month with a children’s concert of music for string quartet. The concert, titled 'Making History,' will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 31, at Parish of the Epiphany, 70 Church St., Winchester. The program features premiere performances by three area African-American composers, Julius P. Williams, Jonathan Holland and Serena Creary.

“Williams, noted conductor, composer, recording artist, educator and author is a professor at Berklee College of Music. He was born in the Bronx, N.Y., and graduated from the High School for the performing arts in New York City. He began playing the drums when he was eight years old, adding violin, clarinet and keyboards as he became older. By the time he was 20, he was recording with Fifth Dimension. His composition, written for the Alcyon String Quartet’s celebration of Black History Month 2010, is titled 'Black Symbols in the Sand.' Williams likens it to 'writings in the sand of life.'

“Holland’s work, 'Meditation,' is a newly created arrangement of his 'Etudes for Brass and Strings,' originally written for Cleveland Orchestra youth concerts. He describes it as 'representing calmness' and 'floating,' manifested by constantly rising notes with slowly shifting chords above them. Holland is a prolific composer, with commissions from diverse performing organizations and residencies throughout the country.

“Creary is currently a student at Natick’s Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Also a prolific composer, her latest piece is for string quartet and narrator. The piece is titled 'Thomas and His Imagination,' and is a charming story about a young lad who learns to trust his imaginings. Performers will include Shufang Du and Randy Hiller, violins; Joan Ellersick, viola; Shannon Snapp, cello; and Serena Creary, narrator. The concert will be repeated on Feb. 6 at 10:30 a.m., at the Class of 1959 Chapel on the Harvard Business School campus in Boston, and on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. at Creative Arts in Reading.” [Julius Penson Williams (b. 1954) is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

Berklee College of Music: 'The Art Music of Black Composers' Nov. 25, 7:30 PM

[Somewhere Far Away: The Music of Julius Williams; Dvorak Symphony Orchestra; Julius Williams, conductor; Videmus/Albany Records (2008) (Release Date Dec. 1, 2008)]

Berklee College of Music
Africana Music Studies Programming 2008/2009

The Art Music of Black Composers

Tuesday, November 25, 7:30 p.m., David Friend Recital Hall

Classical compositions by Julius Williams, Jonathan Holland, Chevalier de St. Georges, Margaret Bonds, Hale Smith, Evelyn Simpson-Currenton, John Carter, and William Banfield, with special guest composer/pianist Patrice Rushen. Performers will include Duane Moody, Matthew Truss, Krystal Banfield, Kudisan Kai, Gabrielle Goodman, Jennifer Elowsky-Fox, and others.  [Julius P. Williams is a Professor of Music at Berklee College of Music.  Prof. Williams, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Margaret A. Bonds and Hale Smith are profiled at AfriClassical.com]