Today we’d like to introduce you to Bruce Williams. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Bruce Williams began his professional career at age fifteen and four years later won a position with the Fort Worth Symphony. In 1983, he won the principal violist position with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel and was also a member of the Haifa Clarinet Trio, performing throughout Israel and Europe. Upon returning to the U.S., he accepted the assistant principal violist position with The Orchestra of Santa Fe. He began concertizing throughout the U.S. as a member of the Allegro Chamber Trio. The Trio was featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today and recorded on Centaur records as The Meisenbach/Golden Duo. Bruce became principal of the Austin Symphony Orchestra (ASO) in 2000 and is a two-time finalist for the Austin Critics Table Outstanding Instrumentalist. In 2003, he won the award for his performance of Hector Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with the ASO.
Bruce is the manager, as well as a founding member, of the Artisan String Quartet. The Artisans performed at Carnegie Hall in 2012, presented by MidAmerica Productions, and has served as Quartet in Residence with the Mozart Festival Texas in San Antonio and the Texas Bach Festival in Georgetown, where Bruce is the Director of Chamber Music. The AQ also resides at the Mason Chamber Music Festival in Mason, Texas, and at the Lampasas County Chamber Music Festival, where he is the founder and Artistic Director of both Festivals.
Bruce enjoys a multi-faceted career and has shared the stage with world-class performers such as Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Garth Brooks, Ray Price, Cristopher Cross, and The Moody Blues. He has recorded on Harmonia Mundi with the Grammy Award-winning choral group Conspirare under the artistic direction of Craig Hella Johnson. He performs regularly with the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio and has been the principal violist with the Victoria Bach Festival for over 30 years.
The Artisan String Quartet started in 1989 as The Austin Quartet, then later went under the names The Camilli Quartet and The Laredo Quartet. Composed of Austin Symphony musicians, mostly principal players, the early versions of the Quartet presented concerts all over central Texas. They taught at the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio and Laredo Philharmonic summer camps in the 1990s and 2000s.
The Artisan era began in 2009, and The Artisan String Quartet continued to perform many concerts around central Texas, including at the Victoria Bach Festival several years in a row, the Mozart Festival Texas in San Antonio every Summer since 2012 – appointed Quartet in Residence in 2014, the Blanco (Texas) Performing Arts Association Series, the Twilight Series (Jonestown/Lago Vista), the Santa Cecilia Series (Austin), Texas State University (San Marcos), and the Salon Concert Series (San Antonio). In 2013, the Artisans completed their three-season-long “Genius at Play” Series, featuring the complete string quartets of Beethoven. The group also recorded part of the film score soundtrack for the documentary about Barbara Conrad Smith, the legendary Metropolitan Opera singer. The film, entitled “When I Rise,” premiered to a standing ovation during the SXSW film festival in Austin in March 2010 and aired in February 2011 on PBS’s “Independent Lens” series.
The Artisan Quartet took its music out of state in 2012, traveling to the crucible of classical music. MidAmerica Productions, Inc. invited the Artisan Quartet to make its Carnegie Hall debut performing on the Carnegie Hall Weil Recital Hall Chamber Music Series on March 22. The Artisan received a standing ovation for their sold-out performance and rave reviews from audience members who posted congratulations on the quartet’s Facebook page. The concert in New York was made possible with generous gifts from the Classical Artist Development Foundation and the Amatius Foundation. It was commemorated by the Texas House of Representatives on March 13, 2013, with H.R. 703 read into the Texas Congressional Record with the Artisans present.
The Artisan Quartet and the Austin Symphony Orchestra created the Artisan Quartet Series from 2012-2014. This exciting chamber music series featured the most significant works in the string quartet and chamber music repertoire. They provided music lovers in Austin with fantastic concerts in an intimate setting.
More recently, the Artisan String Quartet has become the Quartet in Residence at the Texas Bach Festival in Georgetown. I am also the Director of Chamber Music and Classical Sound Inc., where I serve on the Board of Directors as Vice-President. The Artisans have also joined forces with the Odeon Preservation Association in Mason, Texas, to create the Mason Chamber Music Festival. After a very well-received performance in Mason at the Odeon Theater in May of 2015, I proposed a yearly Festival that has just completed its 7th season. I have also created another Chamber Music Festival in Lampasas with the help of The Lampasas Association For The Arts. The Lampasas County Chamber Music Festival is in its inaugural season. It has already played for students in Lometa, TX, and performed in the Historical Lampasas County Courthouse and the newly renovated Keystone Star.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle to presenting Chamber Music concerts is the public perception that classical music is only for the elite, highly educated listener. Nothing could be further from the truth! Chamber Music is an inclusive and accessible form of music in a smaller, more intimate environment than many larger forms like the Symphony Orchestra. The listener is physically much closer to the performers, and in the case of the String Quartet, there are only 4 musicians on the stage. I hear time and again from 1st time string quartet audience members how personal the experience was and that they were hooked. Once someone has been in the room, they lose their preconceived notion of Chamber Music that I mentioned above.
Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your work next?
I do almost everything in the classical music world: performer, Artistic Director, Board Member, and concert producer. I’ve been sought after, usually as a principal player, for the last 30 years. I’m known for being a collaborator and problem solver, and my colleagues are happy to see me at any given event.
Contact Info:
- Website: Artisanquartet.net
Image Credits
Robin Rowell
