The compositions of Amy Williams have been presented at renowned contemporary music venues in the United States and Europe, including the Ars Musica Festival (Belgium), Gaudeamus Music Week (Netherlands), Dresden New Music Days (Germany), Musikhøst Festival (Denmark), Festival Aspekte (Austria), Festival Musica Nova (Brazil), Subtropics Festival (Miami), Spring Festival of New Music (UK), Sound Field Festival (Chicago), Music Gallery (Toronto), North American New Music Festival (Buffalo), LA County Museum of Art, and Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Her works have been performed by leading contemporary music soloists and ensembles, including The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Aleph, Duo Diorama, Brave New Works, North/South Consonance, Monarch Brass Ensemble, CUBE, Empyrean Ensemble, Maverick Ensemble, California E.A.R. Unit, Dinosaur Annex, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Due East, Bent Frequency, pianists Yvar Mikhashoff and Amy Dissanayake, bassist Robert Black, and a piano concerto for Ursula Oppens and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. She recently completed "Pulse Stream" for full orchestra, a commission by the Music Library Association. Another recent work, "First Line"s (2006) was released on VDM Records (Italy) in 2008, performed by Andrea Ceccomori (flute) and Elitza Harbova (piano). Other pieces will appear on forthcoming CDs on the Southport and Capstone labels.
As a member of the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, she has performed throughout Europe and the Americas, including the Ojai Festival (California), NUMUS Festival (Denmark), Jordan Hall (Boston), Merkin Hall, Miller Theatre, Americas Society, Symphony Space (New York City), Musica Contemporanea Ciclos de Conciertos (Buenos Aires), Musik aus Solitude (Stuttgart), FORUM (Hamburg), Cutting Edge (London), UNAM (Mexico City), Unerhörte Musik (Berlin), Köln Triennale, and Wittener Täge für Neue Kammermusik. The Duo’s debut CD of Conlon Nancarrow's complete music for solo piano and piano duet (Wergo) has garnered much critical acclaim. Wergo recently released the Duo’s second CD of the music of Stravinsky. Ms. Williams has also recorded for Mode, Albany and Hat-Art. She has won the Wayne Peterson Composition Prize (Sextet), Audio Inversions Composition Prize (Cineshape 1), Thayer Award for the Arts, an ASCAP Award for Young Composers (verre-glaz), and grants from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, American Music Center, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Pro Musica Viva (Germany) and Meet the Composer. She is the recipient of a Howard Foundation Fellowship for 2008-2009.
Ms. Williams holds a Ph.D. in composition from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she also received her Master's degree in piano performance. She has taught at Bennington College (1997-2000) and Northwestern University (2000-2005) and is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh. An avid proponent of contemporary music, she has served as Assistant Director of June In Buffalo, Director of New Music Northwestern, and is currently on the Artistic Boards of the Pittsburgh-based concert series, Music on the Edge, and the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music.