| In December 2006 we were very fortunate to be able to appoint Ian
Williams as our fourth conductor and musical director.
The choir felt
that Ian's qualifications, experience and excellent human qualities made
him the ideal candidate to build upon the excellent work of his
predecessors. Since joining the choir he has introduced some new musical
items, but also endeavoured to polish performance of the existing
repertoire, improving the dramatic range within pieces.A product of
Pontypridd Boy’s Grammar School and the WCMD, Ian Williams gained his
PGCE from the College of St Paul’s & St Mary’s, Cheltenham, in 1980.
Since then he has spent most of the last 27 years as a full-time
teacher, composer and arranger of music. His teaching posts have taken
him to places as diverse as Bush School, Pembroke and South Island
School, Hong Kong – where he spent 10yrs as Head of Music.
As well as being an experienced teacher, he has also gained considerable
experience as a composer and arranger, both inside and outside the
classroom. His compositions and arrangements have covered a wide
spectrum of projects and have embraced many styles of music.
These include
Symphonic, Choral,
Educational,
Electronic,
Jazz/Big band
He is equally at home working in the classroom as he is for the concert
platform, stage and theatre.
In 1996, his electronic score played a central role in a production of
“The Threepenny Opera”, which formed part of the Hong Kong Youth Arts
Festival. Festival organisers then used his symphonic arrangements as
the musical backdrop to their production of “Godspell” the following
year.
In 1999 his incidental music for Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” was
featured as part of a highly acclaimed three-week run of the play at the
Edinburgh Festival. His original Christmas music has been performed to
widespread audiences as far afield as Germany, Hong Kong and the USA.
Published praise for his carols has included:
“ being simply heavenly” – Neue Westfälische Zeitung, and
“ simply stunningly simple” – RTHK Radio3, Hong Kong.
UK choirs who have performed a cross-section of his work include
Warrington Male Choir,
Cor Meibion Pontypridd,
Dowlais Male Choir,
Leigh-on-Sea Orpheus,
Eastwood Colliery Male Choir ,
Worthing Philharmonic Choir
His music was also featured in the 2005 Bath Chronicle Christmas Concert
in Bath Abbey.
During his time in Hong Kong, Ian was Musical Director of the Hong Kong
Welsh Male Voice Choir.
In a past life (his youth), he was a member of the National Youth
Orchestra of Wales (French Horn) and also the conductor of the Neyland
Ladies Choir (1982 – 1988)
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