Gregory K. Williams

I always find it interesting how the world of being a professional musician works. For me there are many hats that I usually put on: the orchestral musician hat; the pit musician hat; the soloist or chamber musician hat; the teacher hat (which has definite aspects of flair that you add to it, depending on who you are working with); and the arts advocate hat. The list goes on and on, depending on who you are and what you are doing. Quite often there are many plates spinning in the air, in those instances where many roles are in play at once.

The hat that I have been finding intriguing as I prepare for the official release of SHADOWS: The Unaccompanied Viola Sonatas of Günter Raphael on February 2nd, is the outreach hat. I often have to wear the outreach hat whenever I have to gear up for a big performance, Aaron Copland School of Music Viola Day, or if I am about to start working at a festival. I remember having coffee with a dear violist colleague shortly after she launched one of her albums. She said that it is important to reach out to everyone you know, to get the word out. It is not enough just to put a post on social media, reaching out to everyone you have connections with, to share the news about a project that you deeply care about, so that they too will be interested.

So over the past few weeks, I have been pondering who the people are in my life, from the past, present, or possibly the future, that may also be interested in knowing about SHADOWS! I have been going through one email, text, or Facebook message at a time, trying to get the word out! In many ways it has been gratifying, reconnecting with old friends, former teachers and professors, and relatives I haven’t had a chance to talk to in awhile. It has been exciting and rewarding to hear back from people, and I am looking forward to hearing their thoughts about the album, once it comes out.

If you haven’t heard from me yet, and you are reading this, don’t worry! I am just getting started at the beginning of the alphabet, although I may jump around a bit to keep things interesting for me!