Pearl Williams-Jones () (June 28, 1931 – February 4, 1991) was an American gospel musician. A native of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Williams was the daughter of Smallwood Edmond Williams, pastor of the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She attended public schools in the District, graduating from Charles Young Elementary, Brown Junior High School and Dunbar High School. She studied piano with

Hazel Harrison Hazel Harrison (May 12, 1883 – April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist. She was the first fully American-trained musician to appear with a European orchestra. Harrison was born in La Porte, Indiana, and spent most of her childhood hom ...

and

Natalie Hinderas Natalie Leota Henderson Hinderas (June 15, 1927 – July 22, 1987) was an American pianist, composer and professor at Pennsylvania's Temple University. Hinderas was born in Oberlin, Ohio to a musical family. Her father (Abram) was a jazz piani ...

while attending

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, from which she received both a bachelor's degree and a master's of music, and from which she graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

''. She served as minister of music at her father's church and performed as a singer and pianist throughout the United States and Europe, appearing in such venues as

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London and the Suphiensalle in Munich. A well-regarded scholar of

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

, she spent decades as a professor of music at the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C., United States. The only public university in the city, it traces its origins to 1851 and opened in its current form in 1 ...

, where she developed the first degree program in the United States dedicated to the study and performance of gospel. She taught jazz history and music appreciation as well, and directed the university's gospel choir. She served as a technical advisory on the film ''

Say Amen, Somebody ''Say Amen, Somebody'' is a 1982 American documentary film directed by George Nierenberg about the history and significance of gospel music as told through the lives and trials of its singers. Included are Thomas A. Dorsey, considered the "Father ...

''. For two decades she consulted with the

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...

, and worked as an administrative staff member of its African Diaspora Advisory Group. Williams-Jones published a number of works, including a study of the work of

Roberta Martin Roberta Evelyn Martin (February 12, 1907 – January 18, 1969) was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers. ...

written with

Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) was an American song leader, composer, professor of American history, curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist. In the early 1960s, she was a founding member of the Freedom Sin ...

. As a composer she was especially known for her performance of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" to the accompaniment of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

's "

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is the popular English title of the chorale from the 1723 Advent cantata ''Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'' (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life), BWV 147, by Johann Sebastian Bach. The chorale occurs twice in the ca ...

". Williams-Jones received an honorary degree from

Lynchburg College The University of Lynchburg, formerly Lynchburg College, is a private university associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and located in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. It has approximately 2,800 undergraduate and graduate ...

in 1972. She died in 1991 after an 18-month battle with cancer. She was married to Williams V. Jones, MD, with whom she had two children, Yvonne and Virgil Jr.

References

External links

Pearl Williams-Jones Papers
at the Library of Congress {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams-Jones, Pearl 1931 births 1991 deaths American gospel singers American Pentecostals Singers from Washington, D.C. Howard University alumni University of the District of Columbia faculty Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni American women academics 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers