Julius Williams has established himself as a multidisciplinary musician with an international career. Born in the Bronx, New York, Williams has conducted for Symphony Saintpaulia concerts at Carnegie Hall. He has also conducted for orchestras in Dallas, New Jersey, Sacramento, Tulsa and several other major United States cities. He is best known for his work conducting the Pulitzer Prize winning performance of Anthony Davis’s opera, Central Park Five. He worked extensively to prepare and perform the work with Trilogy An Opera Company.

As a composer, Williams has written music for operas, ballets, chamber musicians, choruses, solo voice, theatre, and film. His work “Songs for My Culture” has been performed by the Boston Symphony. He has also premiered his ballet “Cinderella” with the Connecticut Nutmeg Ballet during his time as a composer-in-residence with the company. His opera “Guinevere”  has been performed at the Aspen Music Festival and at the Dubrovnik Music Festival in Croatia. He frequently collaborates with the Boston Pops and the Boston Children’s Chorus to premiere his symphonic and choral compositions.

An established educator, Williams has been on the faculty of various U.S. universities including Hartford University, SUNY Purchase, and Wesleyan University. Currently, he serves as a professor at Berklee College of Music and is the Music Director for Trilogy An Opera Company.

-Lucy Koukoudian

This profile was created during the 2023-2024 academic year as part of the Song of America Fellowship Program, a project of the Classic Song Research Initiative between the Hampsong Foundation and the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.