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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 20 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. Standout projects include:
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 and the projects he has produced have garnered a staggering 27 prizes in just the past two years (2021-23), including 13 Telly Awards, 11 Broadway World Washington, D.C. Awards, two Davey Awards, an Anthem Award, a Communicator Award of Excellence, and a CAAPA Legacy Award. He is also the recipient of the Kennedy Center's National Committee for the Performing Arts’ 2019 Award for Arts Advocacy and an honorary doctorate of music from Richmond Virginia Seminary.
A resident of Washington, D.C., Nolan serves as chair of the Center's Community Advisory Board and is co-founding artistic director of the newly-formed Washington Douglass Chorale. Other performance ensembles include the NEWorks Philharmonic Orchestra, NEWorks Voices of America, and NEWorks Voices of Inspiration.
Copyright © 2021, Nolan Williams, Jr.
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COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Marvin Joseph
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