The American Composers Orchestra in New York City has announced the appointment of KENDALL WILLIAMS as 2013-14 Van Lier Emerging Composer Fellow. Growing up in Miami, Williams developed his musical skill with the steel pan, an instrument associated with his Trinidadian heritage, and later performed with prominent steel bands in both Trinidad and Tobago and New York. He furthered his training in the instrument under Dr. Dawn Batson at Florida Memorial University, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music. Williams went on to receive a master’s degree in music theory and composition at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where his teachers included Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, and Rich Shemaria. The ACO’s Van Lier Fellowship, established in 1999, is designed to equip emerging composers with the full range of tools and skills necessary to build a career as an orchestral composer.
Posted December 23, 2013
