Local Classical – Amy Williams

Local Classical Featured Artist 6/1/20-6/14/20

As part of CMI Streaming’s mission to feature local musicians, we also want to include the artistic voice of experts in the community in our programming choices. To that end, this week we bring in a guest host, Clare Longendyke. Clare is an award-winning pianist who is nearing completion of her doctorate in piano performance at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and is the founder and artistic director of the Music in Bloom Festival, a series of concerts in Indianapolis highlighting classical music from the 21st century. She is a sought-after pianist, performing over 50 concerts a year in North America and Europe. This week, Clare explores the music of American composer and pianist Amy Williams.

Amy Williams is a Pittsburgh-based composer and pianist whose music is on the absolute cutting edge: rhythmically driven, eclectic in style, and fascinating to take in as a listener. She is a magician when it comes to  integrating and evoking non-musical inspiration into her musical works, and her compositions are often inspired by works of literature, poetry, visual art, and film. Coming from a musical family, Williams has lived and worked alongside some of the most influential composers and performers of the late 20th and 21st centuries—including Morton Feldman, Elliott Carter, Yvar Mikahashoff, Ursula Oppens, Amy Briggs, and many others—while maintaining a strong artistic connection to some of the most important composers from before 1950: Beethoven and Stravinsky, most notably. This week’s program explores the people and pieces that have contributed to Williams’ personal musical voice, including her long-time piano duo partner, Helena Bugallo, and the many composers who have influenced her unique approach to composition.