An award-winning producer, arts manager, artistic director, composer/lyricist, and cultural curator, Nolan Williams, Jr. has dedicated his professional career to the curation of works that illuminate issues of civil rights, social justice, and cultural curiosities.
Named the inaugural Social Practice Resident at the Kennedy Center REACH in 2019, Nolan believes in the fundamental power of music and the arts to effect positive change. Over the course of the past 19 years, he has forged his NEWorks Productions into one of the nation's premier creators of inspirational-arts projects, producing educational initiatives, music, cultural festivals, concert events, videos and documentaries, theatrical productions, art exhibitions, community dialogues, and other signature works that reflect the change he seeks in our world.
Altogether, these projects have reached a global audience of nearly 10 million, garnering broad acclaim along the way.
Nolan is highly regarded as a composer/lyricist who, as The Washington Post’s Peter Marks asserts, "is able to compose convincingly in every popular genre..." Nolan’s versatility is reflected in the songwriting credits he has garnered on two Grammy®-nominated projects; the music he has composed for television, including the original soundtrack for Tavis Smiley’s 2009 documentary, STAND; his Major League Baseball-commissioned arrangement of "The National Anthem" for the 2018 All-Star Game; and, his slate of theatrical productions, including the new musical he has co-written with Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Nikkole Salter, GRACE, winner of eleven 2022 Broadway World D.C. Awards and hailed by The Washington Post as “a rousing, boisterously melodic new musical.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Peter Dobrin adds, "Williams has a musical language all his own. It brims with vernacular American optimism…" This optimism is certainly reflected in Nolan’s choral/orchestral works that have been performed by the Philadelphia, National Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Atlanta Youth Symphony, Philadelphia Youth, Kennedy Center Opera House, and NEWorks Philharmonic Orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra’s world premiere of his song cycle, “Hold Fast To Dreams,” lauded by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “soaring… lovely… [and] dreamily upbeat.”
The list of artists with whom Nolan has collaborated reads like a who’s who of music and entertainment including: Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Leslie Odom, Jr., Vanessa Williams, Louis Gossett, Jr., Smokie Robinson, Raul Esparza, and Denyce Graves.
Nolan’s versatility is not limited to musical composition, his entire career is marked by diverse and creative invention. Here are a few highlights:
There is little wonder why Nolan’s work has garnered the Kennedy Center's National Committee for the Performing Arts’ 2019 Award for Arts Advocacy and a staggering twelve Telly and Davey Awards for global excellence in television and video in just the past two years. He is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate of music from Richmond Virginia Seminary.
A resident of Washington, D.C., Nolan serves as co-chair of the Center's Community Advisory Board and is artistic director of three performance ensembles: the NEWorks Philharmonic Orchestra, NEWorks Voices of America, and NEWorks Voices of Inspiration.
PHOTO CREDITS: (1) Nolan music directing "A Monumental Celebration," Lincoln Memorial (2018), photo courtesy of The White House Historical Association; (2) Nolan participating in a panel discussion for the opening of the West Side/South Side exhibition at NYU-Washington, D.C., photo courtesy of NEWorks Productions; (3) Nolan conducting the National Symphony Orchestra and NEWorks Voices of Inspiration at THEARC (2012); photo by Kadesh DuBose, courtesy of NEWorks Productions
Congratulations to Nolan for winning a staggering 10 Telly Awards in 2021 and 2022 and 2 Davey Awards in 2022 for projects he has produced, directed, written, hosted, and composed.
Established in 1979, the Telly Awards honor global excellence in video and television across all screens. Award selections are adjudicated by the Telly Awards Judging Council, a group of over 200 working industry professionals, and selected from over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents.
Established in 2005, the Davey Awards are presented and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts to honor extraordinary creativity produced by small companies.
Here are the prizes won by Nolan and his creative partners:
"Becoming Douglass Commonwealth" is a one-hour documentary that chronicles the long and complicated journey towards Washington, District of Columbia becoming our 51st state, Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. The documentary was released in April 2021 and aired in five CBS east coast markets and on DCTV.
Presented by The Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser
Produced by NEWorks Productions
Nolan Williams, Jr., Producer/Director/Writer
Mike D. DuBose, Associate Producer
Rod McDonald, Consulting Producer
Kadesh Dubose, Director of Photography/Lead Editor
Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove, Co-Writers
Hosted by Andrea Roane and Bruce Johnson
"Becoming Douglass Commonwealth"
"I Have A Right To Vote," the star-studded voting rights music video composed and directed by Nolan. Featuring Billie Jean King, Billy Porter, Carla Hall, Christopher Jackson, Ebony JoAnn, Hill Harper, Sheila C. Johnson, and Ryan Jamaal Swain, this voting rights anthem garnered over 1.2 million views during the 2020 national election cycle.
Produced by Nolan/NEWorks Productions and Dale A. Mott/Edgewood | Executive produced by David Frederick, Sophia Lynn and Bohemian Foundation
In recognition of Williams' direction of "Becoming Douglass Commonwealth"
"Becoming Douglass Commonwealth"
"Becoming Douglass Commonwealth"
Nolan Williams, Jr., Producer/Director
Mike D. DuBose, Associate Producer/Editor
Rod McDonald, Consulting Producer
Kadesh Dubose, Lead Editor
Mike Lyon & Adrienne Boykin, Editors
"Becoming Douglass Commonwealth"
"Becoming Douglass Commonwealth"
"I Have A Right To Vote"
Williams co-hosted the #ByGrace Live Chat Series with celebrity chef Carla Hall from April 21 to May 26, 2020, inspired by the history and themes of Williams' new musical, GRACE. The series, with featured guests like Broadway legend Brian Stokes Mitchell, James Beard Award winner Dr. Jessica B. Harris, culinary historian Michael Twitty, broadcast journalists Michelle Miller and Angie Goff, drew a global audience of 500,000+.
Co-produced by Nolan/NEWorks Productions and Dale A. Mott/Edgewood
In 2019, Nolan was named the inaugural Social Practice Resident at The Kennedy Center REACH. His focal projects have been the development of STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA, a theatrical concert production that highlights seminal moments of the modern Civil Rights Movement, and GRACE: Beyond the Stage, The Kennedy Center's first-ever colloquium celebrating African-American foodways.
The first gallery below features scenes from the STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA (STWAA) auditions at The Kennedy Center in July 2019; The Kennedy Center REACH Opening in September 2019; STWAA rehearsals at The REACH; and the Studio-J STWAA workshop performance and talkback at The REACH in October 2019.
The second gallery features event photos from GRACE: Beyond the Stage.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph & Nolan w/ Grace Awardees Dr. Erinn Tucker-Oluwole, Virginia Ali, Furard Tate, & Dr. Lance London (Credit: Jermoni Dowd/ NEWorks)
Copyright © 2021, Nolan Williams, Jr.
All Rights Reserved.
COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Marvin Joseph
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