Nathan Williams
Associate Professor of Clarinet
Office (Primary):471-0757
MRH 5.278
UT Address:Butler School of Music
2406 Robert Dedman Dr., stop E3100
Austin, TX 78712-1555
Email:nwilliams@austin.utexas.eduClarinetist Nathan Williams's "sublime control," "outstanding musicality," "technical finesse surpassed only by his intuition for musical concept and shape," "silky sound," "most exquisite and expressive playing," and "dazzling technique"—according to recent reviews—have secured his position at the forefront of instrumental soloists today. He is the principal clarinetist of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston and former principal clarinetist of the Winston-Salem Symphony. He is a founding member, with oboist Rebecca Henderson and bassoonist Kristin Wolfe-Jensen, of the Texas Reed Trio.
Williams, along with pianist Audrey Andrist and violinist James Stern, is also a founding member of Strata, a trio that for more than 20 years has been honing and, through regular commissions, augmenting this ensemble's repertory. One of Strata's latest commissions, a work by Stephen Paulus, had its premiere by the trio in Merkin Hall in New York. This season Strata will give the premiere of another commission, to be written by Kenneth Frazelle.
An avid interest in and commitment to 20th-century and contemporary works has been a hallmark of Williams's solo career as well. In recent guest appearances he played concertos by Aaron Copland, John Corigliano, William Bolcom and John Adams. During this season alone he will play music by John Hedges, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Frank Martin, John Novacek, Yehudi Wyner, (etc, etc). And Williams's much-praised duo CD with pianist Andrist, Spontaneous Lines (Albany Records), focuses on music from the 1980s and '90s.
Williams is a frequent guest performer and teacher at conservatories, colleges and universities across the country. He has been heard in Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Kaufman Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Abroad he has given concerts in Austria, Canada, China, Italy, Israel, Hungary, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Portugal. Broadcasts of his performances have been heard on National Public Radio's "Performance Today", the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Austrian Radio Network, NCRV Dutch Radio, and on WNCN in New York. In addition to Albany Records, he has recorded for Composers Recordings, Naxos, New Dynamic Records, and Arizona University Recordings.
Williams is Associate Professor of clarinet at the Butler School of Music of the University of Texas at Austin, where this year he was awarded the Grace Hill Milam Centennial Fellowship in Fine Arts. During the summer he teaches and performs at the Montecito Summer Music Festival in Santa Barbara, CA and at the Aria International Summer Academy in Mt. Holyoke, MA. He formerly held faculty positions at East Carolina University, the Interlochen Arts Academy and Michigan State University. His degrees include an Artist's Diploma with highest honors from the Hochschule fuer Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, and graduate degrees from the Eastman School and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Stanley Hasty. He has been a prize winner in the Eastman, William C. Byrd, and International Gaudeamus Contemporary Music competitions.
In 2010 Williams was the co-Artistic Director of the International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest, held at the University of Texas. He is an artist/clinician for Buffet Group USA and is represented by Lois Scott Management, Inc. Upcoming engagements during the 2012-2013 season include performances in Wisconsin, Washington, Montana, Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and North Carolina.
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