Gareth Patrick Williams (born 1977) is an Irish composer based at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

. He was the first composer in residence for

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish O ...

from 2012 to 2015. His work spans from opera and music theatre to chamber music.

Career

Originally from

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

, Williams moved to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

after studying music at

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. In 2008 he was awarded his doctorate from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. He taught composition at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

until 2012, and since then works as a freelance composer. His work has been featured in the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

, St Magnus Festival, Tête à Tête (opera company), Opera to Go, and the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

Late Music Festival. His music has been broadcast on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irelan ...

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's State media, state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since th ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The st ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

, and

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards ...

in Canada. In 2009, he was on residency at the

Centre Culturel Irlandais The Irish College in Paris (french: Collège des Irlandais, links=no, la, Collegium Clericorum Hibernoram) was for three centuries a major Roman Catholic educational establishment for Irish students. It was founded in the late 16th century, and c ...

in Paris, where he wrote two large music theatre pieces -''A Short Treatise on Love and Miracle'' for the Sound Festival in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

, and ''Gethsemane'' for the 2010 Plug Festival. In August 2009 and 2010, he took part in the LibLab at Tapestry New Opera Works in Toronto, to create short operas in collaboration with Canadian writers, and these were performed in the Opera Briefs festival in Toronto in both years. In Scotland, NOISE (New Opera in Scotland Events) commissioned and premiered ‘the Sloans Project’ (with libretto by David James Brock). Williams has been Composer in Residence at

, where he created several works for the company. ''Elephant Angel'' (with libretto by Bernard McLaverty) toured Scotland and Northern Ireland in Autumn 2012. Another opera, ''Last One Out'' (with libretto by Johnny McKnight), was premiered at the Sound Festival in 2012 in

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about north of Aberdeen, and north of ...

Lighthouse, both works receiving five star reviews from ''

The Herald (Glasgow) ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' and ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...

''. ''Hand'' (with libretto by Johnny McKnight) was created for the 2013 Opera Highlights tour. ''The Song, the Stars and the Blossom'' (text from an interview with Dennis Potter) appeared in 2014 and Rocking Horse Winner by D. H. Lawrence (Librettist Anna Chatterton) in 2015. Rocking Horse Winner, chamber opera with libretto by Anna Chatterton, was premiered by Tapestry Opera in Toronto in 2016, and was shortlisted for nine Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 2017, winning five, including best operatic production. The piece was re-staged at Saratoga Opera Festival in 2018. In 2020, Tapestry Opera performed the work again in Toronto. With the support of The Wellcome Trust, he created ''Breath Cycle'' (with libretto by David James Brock) at the Respiratory ward at Gartnavel Royal Hospital, where he made songs and opera specifically for patients with

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. ...

. The material was bespoke to lung capacity, range, and ability, and the effects of singing on respiratory health are being monitored and measured. Breath Cycle was shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award in 2013. In 2015, ''Hirda'', A New Opera for Shetland, co-composed with Shetland Fiddler, Chris Stout, and produced by NOISE, toured Shetland and performed in Glasgow and Edinburgh From 2016 to 2018, with writer Oliver Emanuel, Williams created the 306 Trilogy, a set of three music theatre works about the British men shot for cowardice in World War 1, commissioned and produced by National Theatre of Scotland, 14 - 18 Now, Horsecross Theatre, Stellar Quines, Red Note Ensemble. Part 1
306 Dawn
and part 2
306 Day
were shortlisted for CATS awards for best music and sound. In 2018, Navigate the Blood, an opera, co composed with indie band Admiral Fallow, was commissioned and produced by NOISE Opera. A site specific work, it toured whisky distilleries of Scotland.

Prizes and awards

Prizes include the Dinah Wolf Prize for Composition, and his piece Search Engines was winner of the 2000 Great British Conservatoire Composers Forum. His opera 'Rocking Horse Winner' was nominated for nin
Dora Mavor Moore Awards
in 2017, winning in five categories, including best opera production, best ensemble and best director.

Selected works

* ''The Elephant Angel''

, 2012 * ''Last One Out''

, 2012 * ''The Sloans Project'' with writer David James Brock, Noise Opera 2011 * ''Worry Doll'' The Sutherland Duo 2011 * ''White''

2010 * ''The King's Conjecture''

, 2008 * '' Naviagate the Blood ''co-composed with Admiral Fallo
NOISE Opera
2018 * '' Hirda '' co-composed with Chris Stou
NOISE Opera
2015 * '' The 306 Trilogy'' with writer Oliver Emanuel

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

2016 - 2018 * ''A Million Billion Pieces'' with writer David James Brock

Young People's Theatre Young People's Theatre (YPT) is a professional theatre for youth located in Toronto, Ontario. The company produces and presents a full season of theatre and arts education programming, performing to approximately 150,000 patrons annually. Founded ...

, Toronto 2019

References

External links

Gareth Williams Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gareth 1977 births 20th-century classical composers 20th-century British male musicians 21st-century classical composers 21st-century British male musicians Alumni of the University of St Andrews Experimental composers Irish classical composers Irish male classical composers Irish opera composers Living people Male opera composers Scottish classical composers Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland