Nolan Williams, Jr.

Theatrical Works

Nolan's current roster of original theatrical works include: Grace, selected work for the 2020 Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville, KY (March 27 through April 12, 2020); Stirring the Waters Across America, a theatrical concert production workshopped at the Kennedy Center and set to tour nationwide beginning in February 2020; and Devine Hamer Gray, a new American musical (currently in development) presented in workshop for the 2019 March On Washington Film Festival.

Musical Compositions

An American composer with songwriting credits on two Grammy-nominated projects and numerous commissions, Nolan's eclectic library of original compositions includes rousing symphonic and choral works, inspirational and popular songs, and music for television. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, "Williams has a musical language all his own. It brims with vernacular American optimism..." And, internationally-renowned opera star Denyce Graves has branded Nolan "a musical genius!"

Festivals

Since 2010, Nolan has developed festival programming featuring a range of performance, educational, visual arts and social impact initiatives. This programming has been developed in partnership with the Kennedy Center (Joyful Sounds: Gospel Across America) and Philadelphia's Mann Center (Philadelphia Freedom Festival, Liberty: Unplugged!, New Frontiers, Firebird: Spirit Rising, Brilliantly Bernstein: Beyond the Baton), engaging a stellar slate of artists, educational institutions, and cultural organizations.

NEWS FEATURES

THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE

"I want to spend the rest of my days exploring music and the arts in ways that bridge communities and that speak inconvenient truths and that challenge and press us towards being our better selves — as individuals, as communities, as a nation."

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THE WASHINGTON POST

GRACE, centered on the history and legacy of African American food traditions [is] the fourth musical created by Williams, who grew up in the District and has pursued an eclectic career...

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICE

Williams, the [Let Freedom Ring] celebration’s musical director for the past 17 years, ...[announced] his STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA tour, a Civil Rights-themed production... The night ended with [a] ...musical tribute featuring...

10-time-Grammy-winner Chaka Khan.

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LEO WEEKLY

“[GRACE] was inspired when I started looking at food traditions, the way those traditions shape family and community and the way persons who migrated from enslavement in the South made their way north and discovered that their food was an economic commodity. ...I’m fascinated by that history...”

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THE WASHINGTON POST

[Williams has had] an eclectic career of scoring and producing music for television, editing hymnals, programming for diplomatic and cultural institutions, conducting orchestras and choruses... and composing and arranging.

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D.C. METRO THEATRE ARTS

Electrifying. Awakening. These are words to describe the heart-rending workshop presentation of STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA performed at Studio K at The REACH. To call it anything less would be just plain wrong.

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COURIER JOURNAL

The annual festival, the nation’s leading incubator for new play development, is a longstanding cultural highlight for theatre lovers, artists and producers from across the country.

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WASHINGTONIAN MAGAZINE

Williams has channeled [his] varied passions into a catalogue that spans genres...

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BROADWAY WORLD

A powerful new musical premiered in a staged reading by composer/ playwright Nolan Williams, Jr., September 25 in Washington, DC...

DEVINE HAMER GRAY

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THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

The Philadelphia Community Mass is Williams’ baby, a multi-composer work that uses the Bernstein Mass as its general inspiration. It was impressive a few months ago at Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church. And here, sporting new orchestrations by Williams, ...[it] had even greater impact.

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THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

The focus is on Leonard Bernstein and his "advocacy for social justice, particularly the way in which he leveraged the platforms that he had in order to extend opportunities to a diverse group of artists..."

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THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Philly astronaut Bluford gets his props at the Mann - and a soaring orchestral number in his honor...

Williams has a musical language all his own. It brims with vernacular American optimism.

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