Gina Williams

EDITORS' NOTE: The date of the concert first published was incorrect. It is July 15 at 3 and 7 p.m. at Oshawa's Arts Resource Centre.

DURHAM — Gina Williams is delightful, but describing what she does is difficult because she does a lot.

One could simply say, "She’s a musician," but it raises the question, What kind of music does she play? Williams is a classically trained composer with a master’s degree as a concert pianist. She’s also a vocalist, and you may hear her singing in a variety of genres, from soul to gospel with some hip hop, funk, electronica and sometimes a full orchestra.

And Williams is a songwriter, producer and actress. She does everything from writing the song, to producing it, to choreographing the dancers and the stage show at its performance.

if I could chart out my life, I would have been a singer with a science degree searching for a cure for cancer or doing major research on mental health issues. Gina Williams
She’s “a one-woman entertainment industry dynamo,” states her website.

And Williams spent many of her formative years in Oshawa, attending College Park Elementary School as her father taught at Kingsway College.

I’m repelled by clichés,” she says in an email. “I am very attracted to polar opposites. That’s where my art thrives but I can’t really take too much credit because if I could chart out my life, I would have been a singer with a science degree searching for a cure for cancer or doing major research on mental health issues.”

The artist, who now calls Blaine, Wash., home, will be back in Oshawa on July 15 for Summer Classics — New Classical Music and More for the Soul. Williams is performing at 3 and 7 p.m. at the Arts Resource Centre.

“The concert in Oshawa will feature not only new solo classical piano music but some Etta James, Whitney Houston and finally a very special surprise for all ages — particularly our seniors and youth,” she says. “I’m so excited about it.”

Born in Edmonton to recent immigrants from Jamaica, the family moved to Oshawa when Williams was eight.

“I didn’t exactly fit in with the kids at school (this is an understatement),” Williams says.

Three years later, she says, she was discovered as a child prodigy by her music teacher. Although she had heard about the struggles musicians can go through, fearing a life on the street, she says she kept practising and "giving everything I ever did my best.”

She believes her talent serves a higher purpose.

“I’m an advocate for the forgotten,” Williams says. “The hurting world I live and participate in — writing songs to help heal our ever-present and fresh wounds. I see my voice and the music given to me as a collective. A prayer of sorts for the world.”

Learn more at ginawilliams.com.

Tickets to her Oshawa concert are $23, and $18 for students and seniors, available via the website.

The Arts Resource Centre is at 45 Queen St., near Oshawa City Hall. - Mike Ruta

Gina Williams has many natural talents.
The Coquitlam resident writes songs, performs around the world in multiple languages and acts on television series — most recently, Riverdale, Rogue and Haters Back Off!
And next month, Williams starts a North American tour to promote her latest album that contains eight tracks she said were gifts from God.
Olympiad, she said, is the result of “The Big Guy” telling her to publish a classically inspired CD.
“I heard Him say, ‘Do an orchestral album,’” the self-described “Jesus Freak” said as she easily switched between a pop standard and opera, from an Yamaha upright piano in her Blue Mountain Park apartment. “So I did.”
Luckily, she had a few original compositions up her sleeve when the order came down.
The daughter of a math and physics teacher, the former child prodigy said she conceived Olympiad at 15 after receiving complete orchestral scores from God.
But, at the time, she didn’t write them down.
Later, at the University of Alberta, where she earned her master’s degree in piano performance in 2000, the concert pianist would tuck away to scribble the notes she heard from up above.
Fellow students and professors would see her madly composing in the hallways — or on the bus, en route to school — but they didn’t reach out to encourage her, she said.
“I would write down all this music from God then just throw it into the drawer,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do with it.”
Soon, she started to realize her songwriting talent and others did, too.
In 1999, she received a commission to pen the anthem for Grenada’s 25th anniversary of independence. And, over the next few years, she self-published three albums — in three different genres — as well as digital copies of her sheet music.
Her performance chops — on stage and screen — and repertoire range continued to gain attention.
In 2012, as a student of the Vancouver Film School, she made her musical début in B.C. with a concert titled The Dare (with Sam Ryan and The Vancouver Orchestra Club) at the Bell Centre of Performing Arts in Surrey; it featured songs from hip hop to classic rock to EDM.
That show proved to be a launch pad for her music career and it built her confidence, she said.
Last fall, with her eight classical music tracks in hand, Williams flew to the Ukraine to record Olympiad with the Academic Choir of the National Radio of Ukraine, under conductor Yulia Tkach.
Its release was followed with a recital at a concert hall in Kiev, which got her a television news spot.
“I want to go back soon,” she said, her eyes wide. “It’s a very special place for me.”
For now, though, her mind is set on the Summer Classics tour. Her first gig is June 10 in Seattle and continues in Surrey on June 24 (Northwood United Church); Oshawa on July 15; Mountain View, Calif., on Aug. 26; and ends in Edmonton on Sept. 9.
Williams has also got another album in the works — at the opposite end of the classical music spectrum. “I’m going to rock out,” she said with a laugh. “It’s something that’s calling me. Maybe it’s divine intervention again.”
• To order a copy of Olympiad, visit ginawilliams.com.

jcleugh@tricitynews.com - Janis Cleugh

A Surrey songwriter will let go of a painful past and returning to her abandoned career as a classical pianist when she hits the stage next weekend.


Gina Williams presents The Dare Concert at the Bell Centre for the Performing Arts on Oct. 20.

“For years I trained to become a concert pianist but somewhere down this path my dreams were snuffed … by prejudice, judgment and my own fear,” explained Williams. “By the time I finished my master’s degree in piano performance, I vowed I would never play as a classical pianist again.”

Williams has performed worldwide and composed the anthem Glory for Grenada’s 25th Anniversary of Independence. As well as singing, composing and producing albums and concerts, Williams has acted on film and television. She played the role of a singer in the Russian film Love is the Best Medicine, where she wrote and performed the theme song You Are Not Alone.

Partial proceeds from The Dare will benefit the Metro Vancouver Dream Centre Society, the BC Cancer Society and ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) Canada. Sponsorship packages are available. Email thedare2012@gmail.com for details.

Tickets for the concert are $27 for adults or $22 each for groups of 10. Reserve by calling 604-507-6355. - Sheila Reynolds

"Beautiful voice!... a brand new kind of singer... everyone stopped to listen to her rich and powerful voice!" - Central Japan Newspaper

"... a modern day Renaissance woman." - Edmonton Composers Society

"... a tiny girl with a large voice... excellent soulful performance of the song Lead Me Home." - City Light News (Country Music Week)

"In Spite of the Storm is a mindblowing mashup of popera, Christian Rock & Classical...." - Sandra Sperounes - Edmonton Journal

Gina Williams is not your typical classical composer.

The Edmonton native has gospel, Christmas, dance and pop albums on her resume. For the past year though, it was classical composition that captured her imagination.

“Some people were shocked, upset even,” said the University of Alberta graduate who has performed in Canada, Russia, Korea and many places in between.

“People thought I was a singer because I worked all these years to sing.”

Trained as a concert pianist, Williams dabbled into hip-hop, funk, electronica and acting throughout her career.

But the classical works that construct Williams’ latest album Olympiad, released earlier this month, came to her naturally.

“There are lots of people who tell me, someone who looks like you does pop, rhythm and blues albums. There aren’t a lot of creatures like you that do orchestral,” Williams said.

“But I was never one who wanted to fit in, with my hair all over the place and my thick glasses.”

Williams compares Olympiad to a movie score epically depicting a struggle between good and evil taking place in the Roman-Greco era.

“It’s an experience. The kind of album where you get into the bath, turn out the lights and need to soak it in,” she said.

“It’s like a whole movie.”

Williams performs the vocals on a few tracks, while much of the recording was done overseas with the Academic Choir of the National Radio of Ukraine.

While she embraces her unconventional journey to creating a classical album, Williams wants the focus to stay on the music.

“There is nothing wrong with not fitting the box. It’s about others, not me,” she said. “It’s about the music, you’re just the vehicle.” - Mitch Goldberg

After receiving a grant from the Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment District in Houston last month, Blaine musician Gina Williams took her show on the road.

On December 9, she performed a winter classics concert at community arts venue Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, also called MATCH.

The concert, which she performed solo, included a mix of original compositions, holiday tunes and classics by Whitney Houston and Etta James.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “It was a real honor.”

Williams is a composer, pianist, songwriter, producer and actress. She enjoys performing a variety of genres, including soul, pop, gospel, hip-hop, funk, electronic and orchestra.

“Williams has become a one-woman entertainment industry dynamo,” read a statement on the MATCH website. “She produces her own records, composes her own songs, choreographs her dancers and masterminds her stage show and generally controls the fate of her entire music career.”

To learn more about Gina Williams, visit ginawilliams.com. - Stefanie Donahue