Nolan Williams, Jr.

Nolan Williams, Jr., CEO of NEWorks Productions, is an American music director, composer, producer, innovator, curator, and musicologist. His body of creative work includes curatorial festivals curated in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Philadelphia’s Mann Center; cultural programming developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, U.S. State Department, and the Embassies of India and South Africa; choral/orchestral works premiered by the Philadelphia, National Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestras; numerous choral commissions; songwriting credits on two Grammy®-nominated projects; music for television; and collaborations with an impressive roster of artists, including Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Natalie Cole, Raul Esparza, Bobby McFerrin, Vanessa Williams, Denyce Graves, India.Arie, Debbie Allen, and Hill Harper.

Williams is also chief music editor of the landmark African American Heritage Hymnal (GIA Publications, 2001), with sales approaching 500,000 books sold worldwide; associate editor of Total Praise, the 2012 hymnal published for the eight-million-member National Baptist Convention, USA; and third-most contributing arranger for Lead Me, Guide Me – Second Edition (2012), the African American Catholic hymnal.

Recent projects include: music direction of the NEWorks Voices of America Choir for the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize honoring Emilio and Gloria Estefan (PBS broadcast); music direction of Let Freedom Ring, the 2019 MLK Holiday commemorative concert jointly presented by the Kennedy Center and Georgetown University, featuring Broadway legends Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell; music direction of the NEWorks Voices of America Youth Choir for The Kennedy Center Honors tribute to the creators of the Broadway musical, Hamilton (CBS broadcast); a world-premiere performance of Williams’ “National Anthem” choral arrangement, commissioned by Major League Baseball for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game (Fox broadcast); and music direction of the National Gallery of Art’s exhibition-opening concert honoring Gordon Parks.

Upcoming projects include: music direction of the NEWorks Voices of America Choir for the Andrea Bocelli World Tour Concert at Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C., December 2019; and Stirring the Waters Across America, Williams’ multimedia theatrical concert production that illuminates seminal moments from the Civil Rights Movement, set to begin touring in 2020.

Williams serves as co-chair of the Kennedy Center’s Community Advisory Board.