Biography
Mattea Williams is an African American composer and writer born in Berkeley, California and based in Napa. She studied composition and piano at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory and graduated in 2019 with a bachelor's in music. She then continued her composition studies at the UT Austin Texas Butler School of Music and graduated in 2021 with a master's. Williams enjoys finding captivating sonic solutions to unique musical problems. She does so using a combination of organic sound design and extended instrument techniques to create immersive and dynamic musical textures that provide a mixed media approach to storytelling. The stories in her work are often based on themes of nature, magic, adventure and afro-futurism and give the listener something to connect to within her imaginative bodies of sound.
Examples include the use of crumpled paper to imitate the crackle of a fire (Embers Tell for Treble Choir, 2018), tin cans to imitate rain on the roof (Rain Garden for Orchestra, 2019) and marbles in a frame/hand drum to imitate the ocean (Bloom for Chamber Ensemble, 2021).
In 2023, Williams was selected to work as the composer in residence with the San Francisco Pride Band during the 2023-2024 season.
She has collaborated with artists such as The Mackle Shaw Duo (2023), Hannah Stater (2021) and Steven Banks (2019). Performances of her work include a performance of the Embers Tell at Harvard University (2021) and premiers by the San Francisco Pride Band (2023-2024), Thomas B. Doherty High School Wind Band under the baton of instructor Angelo Sapienza, the Baldwin Wallace Treble Choir on a collaborative concert with the Spellman Glee Choir at the 2019 Ohio Music Education Conference and the Mt. Kenya Academy String Orchestra in Kenya, Africa (2019). It is important to her to write and publish grade level music in addition to her other projects so that young musicians have access to music by a living black woman composer in addition to the classics. She believes all musicians should have the opportunity to learn and perform repertoire that represents them and their community.
In addition to composing, Williams harbors a love for creative writing and is currently working on her debut novel, Oscura - An Afro-futuristic Ghost Story. She plans to first release the story in the form of an orchestrated audiobook, as she has been writing a fully orchestrated score to accompany the narration.
My story...
I started taking piano lessons at the age of 7 then began playing the clarinet at the age of 10. After writing the music for my class musical in the 8th grade, I developed a fascination for composition.
When I was younger, my dad played the saxophone and to this day, he loves Jazz. My mom worked as an english professor, teaching specifically horror and gothic literature and early African American literature (I've always found my parents to be super cool). Needless to say, I grew up immersed in music and books.
So, in addition to piano and clarinet I loved to read and write. I started creative writing, taught myself guitar, dropped clarinet but continued piano lessons and started learning violin (which didn't last long). I ended up sticking with piano and self-taught guitar, joined a band in high school and lived out my creative dreams until senior year. It was time to apply to college and choose a degree program. I decided to tap into my fascination with writing music and pursue a degree in composition which took precedence over my love for literature.
(Don't worry though, books make an incredible
come-back in this story).
Master's
Bachelor's
In spring of 2019, I received my BA in music from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music where I studied composition with Clint Needham and piano as my primary instrument. I then went on to earn my Master’s in music from the University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music where I continued my composition studies for 2 more years with Yevgeniy Sharlat and Omar Thomas and graduated in Spring of 2021. Music school was easily the most challenging experience of my life, which only makes me all the more grateful for the invaluable, knowledge, skills, work ethic and friendships I gained along the way.
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What
happened next?
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Needless to say, my first attempt at full time composition left me exhausted and unemployed with a master's degree. All I knew was that I didn't feel called to become a composition professor working at a university and I wasn't interested in getting a PhD. I was determined to build a composition career using the credentials I had already worked so hard to earn. So while I was figuring things out, I was teaching!
At first, I worked for two years as a private piano lesson instructor. Then, I went on to work for the Napa Valley Unified School District where I taught 4th and 5th grade choir...and I LOVED it!! Even as an itinerant teacher working at 16 schools.
So I did A TON of reflection about my last attempt, researched a bunch of different work options and business models and once again began the process of building my own business from the bottom up, including making this website! This time however, I learned from my mistakes and chose to structure a sustainable, feel-good career framework around a clear intention that I set for my life as a whole. I explored the possibility of what I could accomplish by combining my strengths and passions. All that reading again had my gears turning and I started writing a fantasy-horror novel called Oscura that I now plan to release/publish in the form of an orchestrated audiobook. You can watch my process of creating my debut novel on Instagram at Orchestrated Storybook Club or watch the video to the right.
See, I told you books would make a come-back.
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Post graduation, I had all the degrees I needed to succeed in music, but I still lacked confidence and direction. I was not entirely sure how to construct a substantial career in composition. I tried once, but that plan was uninformed, lacked intention and was full of holes. I was in a stressed out feedback loop of mindlessly trying a bunch of random miscellaneous things; throwing spaghetti at the wall and waiting desperately for something to stick.
Despite the unexpected discovery of my affinity for early education, I knew elementary music was not my intended final destination. I was scared to try transitioning to full time composition again but ultimately that is what I wanted. This honestly left me feeling extremely discouraged and directionless and I ended up turning to books (and painting) during this time which inevitably rekindled my fire for creative writing. THIS prompted me to have a new perspective. Composition was not my only strength and shaping a career from scratch means that it can look like whatever I want it to!
Ms. Williams
From Mattea to
Present Day
After six years of school and two years of teaching while figuring out composition in my free time, I now have one year left of elementary music before I begin working as a full-time composer writing pieces for commission, taking media scoring and sound design jobs, publishing my own works, creating educational resources for other musicians and writing an afro-futuristic, horror-fantasy novel on the side!
In addition to working as the composer in residence for the official concert band of San Francisco: the San Francisco Pride Band I have written many pieces for high school ensembles. It is important to me to write and publish grade level pieces in addition to my other projects. My works are my tiny attempt to diversify the canon so that young musicians have access to repertoire by a living black woman composer and they can engage with music that represents them.
I am over the moon excited to see where my composition journey takes me next.
This is what I've learned...
"I know that I have everything it takes to build the life of my dreams. I am capable."
OUTSIDE OF THE STUDIO I LOVE...
✧ Going on a beach hike with friends.
✧ Getting matcha, coffee or chai
✧ Adventures with my dog
✧ Gouache painting in my watercolor journal
✧ Reading & listening to audiobooks
✧ Going to local bookstores in new places
✧ Taking care of my plants
✧ Trying new recipes
✧ Eating amazing foods at new restaurants
I WANT TO LEARN...
✧ How to surf
✧ How to make rosemary and garlic confit focaccia bread
In the time I was teaching, I tried and failed through many different approaches to my composition career and it was only after sitting down and asking myself what I value and what I wanted my life as a whole to feel like that I was able to succeed. In designing my current career, I considered my strengths and weaknesses, created space for my passions outside of the studio, looked for opportunities to learn and teach, and overall, I just started to be very intentional about how I leverage my time. I have learned that I have skills and passions in every aspect of my life and all of those things are valuble tools in my toolbox.
I have noticed that I LOVE to throw 110% of myself into a project or task. I thrive in environments where I can engage in hours of deep focus but I focus best after periods of REST.
I love to teach, especially young musicians, but I don't have to work within traditional school systems in order to be an educator.
SOME OF MY CURRENT FAVORITE BOOKS...
✧ Coraline by Neil Gaiman
✧ Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
✧ Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
✧ Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
✧ Circe by Madeline Miller
✧ Red Rising by Pierce Brown