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Richard Williamson
The South Carolina School of the Arts
The South Carolina School of the Arts
Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities
rwilliamson@andersonuniversity.edu
Rainey Center 122
Academic Background
Dr. Williamson’s choirs have performed in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Kennedy Center, the National Cathedral, and Carnegie Hall. He is a Fulbright Scholar and has received AU’s Boles Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has published compositions with various firms, presented at numerous conferences, and published articles in Choral Journal, Teaching Music, and others. Williamson has also taught music in the public schools and served as a church musician. He lives with his wife, Tanya, on his family’s bicentennial farm near Belton, SC.
BM Music Theory, Furman University
MM Choral Conducting, Eastman School of Music
MA Music Theory, Eastman School of Music
DMA Choral Music, University of Illinois
Fast Facts
My classes are active and intense, and I expect students to be engaged.
The balance between great faith and great academics at AU is conducive to both meaningful spiritual growth AND serious professional achievement.
There are many ways for people to be productive musicians, and individuals succeed for different reasons. All paths cross some of the same territory, but each is unique.
Fulbright Scholar 2013-2014 at the National Conservatory of Music, Lima, Peru
Guest Conductor for Mid-America Productions at Carnegie Hall, June 2016
Boles Excellence in Teaching Award, Anderson University
Honorable Mention for “Alleluia” in Cornwall International Male Choir Festival – 2018 Composers Competition
Winner of the Counterpoint Composition Contest, Fellowship of Pastoral Musicians, 2014, for “Like a River Glorious”
AU’s music students are receptive to all kinds of music and willing to work hard to excel. They also tend to be kind, supportive, and appreciative.
Conducting, composition, and arranging
Books
Pilgrim Journey: Fantasies on Welsh Hymns (Beckenhorst Press, 2019)
Postludes in Two Minutes or Less: Hymn Postludes for Organ (Lorenz, 2018)
Articles
“Mind and Heart: Leading Students Toward Mastery of Anchor Standards 4, 7, And 8.” Teaching Music. (August 2023), pp. 14–19.
“Training the Rising Generation of Worship Leaders: A Skill-Based Approach.” The Journal of the Baptist Church Music Conference. 28/1 (January 2012).
“Demystifying Composition: Success with Standard Four.” Teaching Music. 15/3 (December 2007).
“Contemporary Rhythm and the Traditional Choir.” Choral Journal (Journal of the American Choral Directors Association). 47/8 (February 2007).
“Reawakening the Romantic Spirit: Nineteenth-Century Sources on Expression.” Choral Journal (Journal of the American Choral Directors Association). 46/11 (May 2006)
“Harmony and Language in Ginastera’s Lamentaciones de Jeremias Propheta: Implications for Rehearsal and Interpretation.” Choral Journal (Journal of the American Choral Directors Association). 41/9 (April 2001).
Conference Presentations
College Music Society (International, National, Mid-Atlantic, Southern), National Collegiate Choral Organization, Society for Music Theory, MENC’s Music Education Week in Washington, Music Theory Southeast, Georgia Association of Music Theorists, SC Music Educators Association, SC American Choral Directors Association
Music Publishers
Augsburg Fortress, Beckenhorst Press, Broadman, Carl Fisher, Easy Choir Music, Hal Leonard, Kjos, Heritage Music Press, Lawson-Gould, Lorenz, Roger Dean, Shawnee Press, World Choral Library, The Sacred Music Press