John McLaughlin Williams

John McLaughlin Williams is an American orchestral conductor and violinist. He attended the Boston University School of Music, the New England Conservatory and is a graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Music. His violin studies were with Dorothy Delay, conducting with Carl Topilow and composition with Donald Erb and Margaret Brouwer. A relative newcomer to conducting, he has appeared as a guest conductor with many ensembles, but holds no permanent post. He has recorded several cds for the Naxos Records label, all in their [http://www.naxos.com/series/american_classics.htm American Classics] series, where he has shown a remarkable ability to uncover lost gems by American composers of the first half of the twentieth century (such as Henry Hadley and John Alden Carpenter), and bring them vividly to life with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. The resurgence of interest in western American composer George Frederick McKay (1899-1970) can be attributed to John's pioneering Naxos recordings of McKay's music. As a violinist he has appeared as soloist around the US, and he was an active free-lancer in the Boston area, where he was Assistant Concertmaster of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and played as a substitute with the Boston Symphony. John was also a member of the Houston Symphony, and was Concertmaster of the Virginia Symphony. He was awarded a Grammy in 2007 for his recording of Olivier Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques, in which he conducted the Cleveland Chamber Symphony with pianist [http://www.angelinchang.com Angelin Chang] . He was recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Britt Festival in Oregon.

Awards and recognitions

* 2007 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)

Discography

*" MESSIAEN : Oiseaux Exotiques [http://www.tncmusic.net/article_info.php?articles_id=22] 2007 Grammy Winner
*" FLAGELLO : Violin Concerto / Orchestral Excerpts from the Operas / Orchestral Songs [http://www.artekrecordings.com/artek/CD36.htm]
* "CARPENTER : "Adventures in a Perambulator / Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2" [http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559065]

* "FLAGELLO" : "Piano Concerto No. 1 / Dante's Farewell / Concerto Sinfonico" [http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559296 ]

* "HADLEY: Symphony No. 4 / The Ocean / The Culprit Fay" [http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559064]
* "MCKAY: From a Moonlit Ceremony / Harbor Narrative" [http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559052]
* "MCKAY: Violin Concerto / Sinfonietta No. 4 / Song Over the Great Plains" [http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.559225]

External links

* TNC Recordings [http://www.tncmusic.net/article_info.php?articles_id=22 Featured Article Cleveland Chamber Symphony: Music That Dares To Explore, Vol. 6 ]
* The Carolina Peacemaker [http://www.carolinapeacemaker.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=76200&sID=4 Featured Article ]
* [http://www.naxos.com/conductorinfo/395.htm Conductor info on the Naxos website.]