Interview with Nolan Williams, Jr. Composer, Producer, Lyricist, Playwright, and Cultural Creator

Conducted by Jordan Wright
October 6, 2024

Multi-disciplinary artist and long-time DC resident Nolan Williams, Jr. has already achieved more than most people do in a lifetime. At 55 years old the Oberlin College grad is at the top of his game with a slew of media awards from his career as a composer, producer, playwright, lyricist, director, and cultural creator. We first met at the premiere of his 2022 production, “Grace, The Musical” at Ford’s Theatre, when I was reviewing the show that later garnered 11 Broadway World Washington, DC awards, and I have been following his career like a hound dog ever since.

As the inaugural Social Practice Resident at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Williams, Jr. is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Kennedy Center’s National Performing Arts Committee’s 2019 Arts Advocacy Award.

He is known for composing emotionally stirring, inspirational and uplifting music influenced by musical theatre, gospel, classical music, jazz, R&B, soul and roots music featuring choral and orchestral works.

Many of his works have been performed at the Kennedy Center and are star-studded artistic collaborations with Aretha Franklin, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Denyce Graves and Ladysmith Black Mambazo as well as local award-winning artist Nova Y. Payton. He has also collaborated with Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Leslie Odom, Jr., Natalie Cole, Raul Esparza, and more.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/oK2tkRbhHEA?si=WmSCtq9X9GlwBz2D

Williams, Jr. has recently released the PSA “Rise Up & Fight” (click here to watch the award-winning PSA) produced by his NEWorks Productions media company as part of their Freedom Advances campaign. This animated music video and civic anthem is designed to encourage Blacks and minorities to register and vote as well as ‘Post’, ‘Share’ and ‘Like’. It emphasizes the importance of voting to achieve power and change for Black communities in America and has already earned six international film awards, including Best Lyrics Video in the International Music Video Competition, three Awards of Excellence in the Best Shorts Competition and, this past week, the PSA became an Official Selection of the New York Film & Actors Awards.

Previous PSAs include the 2020 multi award-winning social impact video, “I Have a Right to Vote” and the America Song Project, which garnered over 2 million and 1.3 million global hits, respectively. Williams has also produced, directed and co-written the celebrated documentary, “Becoming Douglass Commonwealth,” in commemoration of DC Emancipation Day 2021. This DC Statehood video—which has won ten media prizes—reviews the history and evolution of DC and its search for statehood status. The video features historians, scholars, business leaders, legal scholars, DC leaders, Congressional Representatives, former and current DC Mayors, as well as community activists.

This week I had a chance to talk with this über-creator about his life, his accomplishments and his dreams.

 —————–

JW: Does your inspiration come because of the need to connect with the culture or is it the need to educate to impact social change?

NWJ: It’s both. Cultural connection is very important to me because I see great value in our cultural expressions. I’m always looking for ways to lift up our history, culture, practices and traditions. At the same time, I understand the impact music and the Arts have in educating and uplifting our community. I’ve been doing this impact work for 21 years through my company NEWorks.

What haven’t you done yet that you’d like to?

I have other musicals currently in development. And, I want to do a musical recording of the social justice songs I’ve composed – a comprehensive album. I have written many of these songs during my 20-year tenure as Music Producer for Let Freedom Ring, the annual MLK Birthday concert jointly presented by Georgetown University and the Kennedy Center. I want to accomplish that in the next few years.

What’s on the horizon?

We will soon be making announcements about “Grace, The Musical”. I have been retooling it with Nikkole Salter [co-book writer] for the past two years, figuring out what the show wants to be. This past Spring, we did a work session at Arena Stage and a private reading at the Kennedy Center.

I am also excited about my collaborations with the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center in Orlando. I have revamped their “6th & Jazz” program, which annually reaches over 16,000 sixth graders in Osceola County—and we’re now looking to expand. And, I have been appointed the first Artist Director outside of the UK for a project called “STROKESTRA”, an organic initiative of music-making that pairs world-class musicians with stroke survivors and their caregivers. It was invented by the Royal Philharmonic in the UK a decade ago. The Dr. Phillips Center is now leading a residency of the project in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic and Advent Health. It’s a beautiful program purposed to build the spirits of those involved and to facilitate healing and wholeness.

Lastly, in early November, I’ll be in London to witness two of my works being premiered on that side of the pond by the London Symphony under the baton of Maestro Andre Thomas.

How does the music come to you? 

In different ways. I find it best to write when I’m inspired by something I read or see. There needs to be some kind of catalyst.

Sometimes it’s a lyric in search of a tune, other times it’s a tune awaiting a lyric. I’ve been very intentional in recent years about not writing as much at the piano, relying more on what I’m actually hearing. At some point I’ll use the piano to refine concepts.

What cultural figures most influenced you as a child?

I was influenced by artists that were writing music that had value beyond entertainment. Like Stevie Wonder who wrote about being “born in hard time Mississippi”. His social commentary stood out to me, and the way in which he used rhythms and harmonies was interesting and novel. He was very much an architect in music.

During my student days at Oberlin College, I saw Gil Scott-Heron in concert. He was the anti-entertainment industry artist. It was clear, a few bars in, this dude writes about what he wants to say. He was not concerned about being commercial. I’ve come to realize how deeply moving that is. That’s part of what has inspired me to leverage the power of music and the Arts for social good – the mission of my company NEWorks – and the hallmark of the collaborative work we’ve been doing for 21 years with countless artists and arts organizations.

Like Wonder and Scott-Heron, I create and produce art to help shape the world I want to see. I’m hopeful enough to believe music has the power to reach at least one person and that, when it does, it touches the heart.

Who are you most inspired by today?

By this emerging generation of young creatives, many of whom are not household names but are creating art boldly. They are more open to ideas that are different. They are open to collaboration and not hung up by the -isms that most often divide us. With our recent project, Freedom Advances, we are inviting young creatives around the country to manipulate and sample two of our civic anthems, creating new ways to reach their peer groups. We’re calling it our “Rise Up Song Challenge”. We have already received numerous submissions showing how gifted, smart, savvy and creative these young artists are in using technology that is compelling as well as entertaining. I draw inspiration from them.

Would you ever write a modern opera?

It’s funny you should ask that. I have given some thought to the idea. I am open to it. When I traveled to the Met to see Fire Shut Up In My Bones written by Terence Blanchard, who is amazing, I thought, opera is something I’d consider writing.

When you’re composing a piece, at what point does the full orchestration come to you?

It depends. Sometimes ideas will just start to take shape. Other times it’s on the back end. I also love collaborating on my orchestrations because I love how my circle of colleagues help to refine ideas.

How can viewers find your PSA videos? How are they promoted? 

My company www.NEWorks.us is the best place. Also, we have a great team that pushes out our projects on the web. We rely on collaboration. We put out our work, then friends tell friends who tell friends. We also use grassroots means to reach people. Schools, regional theaters, artists and community organizations are sharing our videos. We’ve garnered millions of views.

I know you’ve collaborated with celebrity chef Carla Hall on several projects, but what are your favorite foods and favorite local restaurants?

First, I love Carla—she is an amazing friend and supporter.

I like salmon. In our region my favorite version is the blackened salmon at Busboys and Poets www.BusboysandPoets.com although right now, Lydia On H www.LydiaOnHDC.com is my jam. Their Caribbean food is amazing!

Who would you most like to collaborate with on your next project?

It’s a long shot and a dream, but working with Stevie Wonder would be amazing.

And if I’m really dreaming, I’d love to work with Shonda Rhimes because I love her inventiveness – the way in which her concepts and productions showcase her love of the culture, the universality of her work’s appeal, and her standard of excellence.

What haven’t we touched on that you’d like to talk about?

Our “Rise Up & Fight” civic anthem and the commemoration of ‘Freedom Summer’. It’s so important that we focus on the history and significance of that event, especially in this election year.

Sixty years ago, three young civil rights workers – James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner – gathered with other volunteers in Mississippi to do important work in a state that was riddled with the plagues of racism and hatred. These volunteers had the courage to go into rural counties and register African American voters and to launch freedom schools that provided supplemental educational opportunities for children. But Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were arrested on trumped up charges and then released into the hands of the KKK, who abducted and murdered them.

The “Rise Up & Fight” anthem honors these three men and the sacrifices they made with their lives. And it’s a reminder that those of us who believe in freedom must be relentless in our efforts to advance it. We must be engaged in the voting process.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.