This year has been a year with a lot of changes for me. A lot of goals that were hanging in the balance for a long time have become realities, and I am starting to create new goals. I feel like I am learning a lot about myself, and how to be more focused on enacting my goals, rather than fear and uncertainty take hold.
The week ahead promises to be pretty exciting! I will start the week working with my hardworking students at Queens College on Monday, and spending quite a bit of time in the practice room! (I plan on sneaking a run in the morning as well!) On Tuesday, (10/1), I will be performing with the JWM: A Theatrical Company’s rendition of Hello, Dolly! at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park at 2pm. (There are a few photos included below from the September productions at Sutton Place Park). It is my first time performing in Central Park, which is hard to believe after living in the city for over 14 years!
On Wednesday, I am returning to the recording studio, Scholes Street Studios this time, to record works by Anthony R. Green, Dennis Bàthory-Kitsz, and Adolphus Hailstork, on viola and violin! I am super-excited for this project for multiple reasons. First, it will be my first time recording on violin– I have been playing on a special violin over the last few years that previously belonged to Diana’s grandfather. I will be recording the first two movements (for now) of Hailstork’s Suite for Solo Violin, a piece that I quickly fell in love with during the height of the pandemic, as well as Dennis Bàthory-Kitsz’s iota, a short solo violin work which I had the honor of performing last fall on the Piano by Nature concert series in Elizabethtown, NY, as part of a festival honoring Dennis’s 75th birthday! The third piece I will be recording on viola– Two Pages for Kara, was written in memory of my younger sister Kara Lynn Williams (1992-2010), by my dear friend, Anthony R. Green.
The rest of the week I will be in rehearsal and the first few performances of a run of Jekyll & Hyde, at the White Plains Performing Arts Center. I am particularly excited about this production, as this is the first time in awhile where I am performing in a musical. The performances begin on Friday, October 4th, and continue until the 20th!
Beyond that, I will be practicing and gearing up for several fun upcoming recitals!
Gregory K. Williams 