Nathan Williams (United States)
Clarinet
Chamber Music
An internationally celebrated soloist and chamber musician, clarinetist Nathan Williams has recently
been praised for his “sublime control”, “silky sound”, and “dazzling technique”. He is the principal
clarinetist of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston and, along with pianist Audrey Andrist
and violinist James Stern, is 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. Strata’s latest
commissions include works by Stephen Paulus, which the trio premiered in Merkin Concert Hall, and
by Kenneth Frazelle, which Strata premiered on the Secrest Series in Winston-Salem, NC. Most
recently, Strata participated in a commissioning consortium for a new trio by Libby Larsen which they
premiered in March, 2016.
Williams is a frequent guest performer and teacher at conservatories, colleges and universities across
the country and abroad. He has been heard in Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, and
the Kaufman Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Abroad he has given concerts in Austria,
Canada, China, France, Italy, Israel, Hungary, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, the Netherlands, the Czech
Republic, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Portugal. Broadcasts of his performances can be
heard regularly on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today”. He has recorded for Albany
Records, Composers Recordings, Inc., Naxos, New Dynamic Records, and Arizona University
Recordings.
His students have garnered prizes in national and international competitions, most recently including
the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition, Music Teachers National Association Collegiate
Young Artist Competition, the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, and the Texas Young Artists
Competition. Former students hold positions in major symphony orchestras and universities in the US
and abroad.
A graduate of Eastman and Juilliard, Williams is an artist/clinician for Vandoren and a Buffet Group
USA Performing Artist., and performs exclusively on Buffet R13 Prestige clarinets, Vandoren
mouthpieces and V12 reeds, and Taplin Weir barrels and bells.
“Mr. Williams, through dauntless technical prowess, showered the audience with splendorous
fireworks…”
- Shelter Island Reporter
“Williams was in complete command of his instrument, with solid technique and an operatic touch”
- The Washington Post
“There is a sound one needs on clarinet to play Mozart, a sound with a great deal of sweetness but at
the same time plenty of presence and clarity, and Williams has it….Mozart, I think, would have loved
it.”
- Solares Hill
“…technical finesse surpassed only by his intuition for musical concept and shape”….
“most
exquisite and expressive playing…”
- San Juan Tribune
More about Nathan Williams
http://www.stratamusic.org/
http://rocohouston.org/artists/nathan-williams/
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