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Brent Williams
Violin
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M. Brent Williams is pleased to join the faculty of Valdosta State University (GA) in the fall of 2008 where he will teach applied violin lessons, world music courses, serve as principal second of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and perform with the faculty string quartet. The beginning of the 08-09 Season will also see him become the director of the TSYO Fiddlers and Symphonic Strings (FL). He is currently completing a DM in violin performance as well as the "Music of the Americas" graduate certificate (finished 4/25/08) at Florida State University. He received his MM in 2002 (from FSU) as a teaching assistant/assistant to the director of the chamber music program and his BMA from the University of Oklahoma (1998) where he was a recipient of the Doris Bratton Scholar Award, Gail Boyd de Stwolinski Award, and OU Scholars Award. From 2006-08 he was a member of the violin faculty, strings coordinator [4th session, 2007, 3rd session, 2008], 1st violinist in the faculty string quartet [4th session, 2007, 3rd session, 2008], principal second violin of the Festival Orchestra [2nd session, 2008], and fiddling elective/minor instructor at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (Twin Lake, MI) as well as being Program Coordinator at the Brevard Music Center (Brevard, NC) in 2006. Williams is the assistant concertmaster of Sinfonia Gulf Coast (Destin, FL) as well as being a member of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra (FL). He has performed as soloist and chamber musician in seven different countries and as a member of sixteen professional, four festival, and three collegiate symphony orchestras. His principal teachers include: Beth Newdome, Dr. Gary Kosloski, Byron Tauchi, Michael Ma, Dr. Janna Lower, Wayne Crouse (viola), Eliot Chapo (excerpts), and Chris Wu. Additionally, he has had master classes with Donald Weillerstein, Charles Castleman, Stanley Ritchie, Sally O'Reilly, and Janet Sung. Williams performs on a violin constructed by Charles and Samuel Thompson (St. Paul's Churchyard, London) from 1769.
A dedicated chamber musician, Williams is the first violinist of enhake (www.enhake.com) - an emerging classical chamber ensemble comprised of members from South Korea and the United States. Its unique instrumentation (clarinet-violin-cello-piano) allows the group to present some of the most important music from the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as a vast repertoire of chamber masterworks of the Classical and Romantic eras in various trio combinations. Since its inception in 2007, enhake has quickly established itself by performing and participating in the most prestigious competitions throughout the United States. In 2008 enhake was awarded first prize at the 3rd International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition (Boston, MA) and a Judges' Special Recognition Prize at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition (Columbia, MO). The same year, enhake made its Carnegie Hall debut featuring John Mackey's "Breakdown Tango" to critical acclaim at Weill Recital Hall. The group is a recipient of the University Musical Association Award and Academic Conference Grants at FSU for the 2007-08 Season. enhake will be featured in the 2008 OK Mozart International Festival (Bartlesville, OK) as a part of its Showcase Series as well as giving Guest Artist Recitals at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University.