Remembering Kara Lynn Williams (1992-2010)
I wanted to share with you a project that has been on my mind, and in my heart for quite awhile. “Two Pages for Kara,” was a piece written by one of my dearest friends, composer Anthony R. Green in 2011, a little over a year after my younger sister Kara Lynn Williams passed away. This piece was one of several outlets in the years since my sister passed in which I was able to channel my grief.
It wasn’t until last summer that upon reviewing Anthony’s notes within the musical file, that I noticed that he suggested that this piece would work well accompanying a slide show celebrating her life. After performing this work (along with several of Anthony’s other pieces for viola) at the American Viola Society Festival in Los Angeles, I began putting a plan in action to record “Two Pages,” and began raising funds to record this piece (and a few others) at Scholes Street Studios.
In October 2024, I was able to record this piece. It is the sort of work that brings forth a lot of emotion and I knew that I needed to save it for the end of the recording session. Otherwise, I might not have the energy to record other works. (Ironically, this also worked out since the other pieces I was recording were written for violin.)
Recording the video was relatively easy. Gathering photos from family, some of Kara’s friends, and curating the best ones was the hard part! Initially I hoped to include more photos, but I quickly realized that the pacing of the pictures of Kara was much too fast for the tempo of the piece. I was originally hoping to have this released last month in time for the 15th Anniversary of Kara’s passing (on March 17th), but I experienced some minor hiccups in getting materials ready in time.
Again, this video is meant to be a celebration of Kara’s life, remembering who she was, and helping future generations get to see how amazing my younger sister was. Not a day goes by where she is not thought about, remembered or missed. I hope that you enjoy this recording.
Gregory K. Williams 