Walker Williams
Research Area
Education
B.A, composition, Shepherd University
M.Mus, composition, University of British Columbia
D.M.A. candidate, composition, University of British Columbia
About
Walker Williams (they/them) is an eclectic composer from rural West Virginia, whose compositional style runs the gamut from conservative tonality to microtonal electronic music to avant-garde performance art (admittedly with an overall tendency towards ‘pretty music’).
As a white settler, Walker has benefitted from the ongoing act of colonization in both the United States and Canada, and would like to acknowledge that their upbringing and education has taken place primarily on the homelands of the Massawomeck, Manahoac, and Musqueam nations.
Walker’s compositions have been performed throughout Europe and North America, including the Alba International Music Festival, and the Blackstad in Residence program. In 2019, Walker’s Vandalia for string orchestra was selected as the audience favourite at The EAR classical concert in New York City.
Research
I currently have two main research areas in composition. The first, which covers my doctoral thesis research, is the intersection of choral music with social issues. My thesis composition is an oratorio about the Mine Wars, a period of labor struggles and conflict in early 20th century West Virginia. Despite the scale of these conflicts, they tend to be glossed over in discussions of coal mining, and U.S. history in general, and I hope to be able to bring additional awareness to this moment in labor history. Musically, the form is inspired by baroque oratorio (and Bach’s passions in particular), with musical styles drawn from a range of sources including traditional Appalachian music.
My other area of interest is procedural electronic music, particularly finding ways of making electronic music that responds to a natural environment and exploring pitch relationships outside 12-tone equal temperament. I have two projects currently live: Moonsong, which responds to the phase of the moon, as well as various other atmospheric conditions, and Deep Evening, which responds to the sunset. In both cases, the music varies from day to day and moment to moment based on these conditions.