|
The merican choral Conductor, Barry Scott Williamson, obtained his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from University of Arizona (1981- 1982); and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin (1986-1993).
Barry Scott Williamson has served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at El Paso (1993-1996); Founder/Artistic Director of Texas Choral Consort (1997-2007); Founder/Teacher of Williamson Vocal Studio in Austin, Texas (August 1978-Present); Founder/Artistic Director of Vocali of Austin (March 2009-Present; Choral, choral-orchestral, opera, recital and master class/music education projects on professional and semi-professional level); Director of Music Ministries at St. Helen Catholic Church in Georgetown, Texas (October 2014-Present).
Since 1997, it has been the explicit goal of Barry Williamson to enrich the local Austin community and the State at large by building and maintaining not one, but several outstanding professional vocal ensembles. He began this endeavor by founding The Texas Chamber Consort to nurture and promote excellence and professionalism in the performance of unaccompanied choral, choral/orchestral, and instrumental works of the classical repertory best suited to chamber ensembles and including, where appropriate, both vocal and instrumental soloists. Through The Texas Chamber Consort, He continued the Austin Choral Symposia, which he had inaugurated in 1992, and began the Schola Cantorum of Austin. In 2003, Williamson and a small board of directors formed the Texas Choral Consort (TCC), a nonprofit corporation to be the umbrella for the various choral activities and to focus on the choral and choral/orchestral mission. Texas Choral Consort is continuing the work begun by The Texas Chamber Consort and now operates the Austin Choral Symposia, Schola Cantorum of Austin, and two new ensembles: Camerata Vocale and the Austin Youth Choral Academy.
Barry Scott Williamson has a long-standing reputation as one of Austin's finest conductors. He has held conducting positions with the UT-Austin University Chorus and undergraduate opera theatre, Austin Civic Chorus, Austin Lyric Opera, and the Austin Choral Symposia and The Texas Chamber Consort, which he founded in 1992 and 1997, respectively. Dr. Williamson has taught and performed extensively in the USA, Europe, Scandinavia, Canada and Mexico. Musicians and audiences alike are drawn to his conducting energy, musical passion, and inspiring interpretations of a wide variety of choral/orchestral/operatic repertoire. Chorus members are united in their praise of Williamson's extraordinary ability to teach, prepare and empower his forces, in a limited amount of rehearsal time, to present profound and exciting performances of outstanding quality. One 2000 Symposium singer wrote, “This summer's Symposium was the most satisfying musical experience of my life.” An audience member shared via e-mail, “Your concert was wonderful! We could have been in New York or London.” A Messiah listener wrote, “Dear Maestro: your Messiah performance was profound, opulent, and truly uplifting.” Duncan Goodrich of the Austin American-Statesman praised his conducting technique as "at all time nuanced and articulated, sometimes seemed to mark sculptures in the air."
Under Barry Scott Williamson's direction, Texas Choral Consort sponsors a rich palette of vocal music events, including choral masterworks, voice recitals, and masterclasses. In addition to his Texas Choral Consort activities, Williamson is committed to music education and is in high demand as a private voice teacher/coach and conducting masterclass instructor.
Barry Scott Williamson has demonstrated choral/orchestral conducting accomplishment in choral/orchestral/operatic/music theatre repertoire (particularly critically acclaimed performances of 18th/19th century repertoire), as well as masterclass, church music, vocal performance and vocal coaching/accompanying, both domestic and international. Possesses rare ability to teach and enable singers of all voice parts/experience levels to achieve extraordinary accomplishment; possesses outstanding keyboard/accompaniment skills and professional quality lyric baritone voice; proven ability as successful recruiter and administrator for choral/vocal/church music programs, equally at home with traditional and contemporary genres. Has conducted to date 14 world premieres, organized/directed four international performance tours and recorded 28 CD/DVD recordings. |
