Atlanta native Joshua Williams is attending the Verbier Festival Academy this summer, a prestigious training and performing program in the Swiss Alps described as a “rite of passage” for young orchestral musicians.
Williams was selected to fill one of 38 positions at the Verbier Festival Orchestra. In total, 1,250 musicians from around the world auditioned for one of those spots, John Helyar, Artistic Administrator of Orchestra at Verbier, said.
“It’s a chance to connect with musicians all around the world,” Williams said. “We all speak different languages, but we can all sit together and make music together. We all speak that language together.”
The Verbier Festival is an international classical music event that brings together world-class artists and emerging talents from around the world. For two weeks in July, musicians converge in the town of Verbier, Switzerland, for concerts and rehearsals. Its mission, according to the Verbier website, is to “build a community of exchange between great masters and young artists from all over the world.”
Williams is a member of this summer’s Verbier Festival Orchestra, which accepts musicians 18-28 years old. The students stay in Verbier for a total of five weeks. The first two weeks are filled with rehearsals and lessons, Helyar said. For six hours a day, they practice music.
Williams, who is working toward a masters degree from Juilliard, is looking forward to making music with people his age for the next few weeks. In the fall, he will return to Atlanta where he won one of two Fellowships to play 22 weeks annually with guidance from Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s principal tuba chair, Michael Moore.
“I’m excited about listening to how other people play music,” Williams said.
In some countries, they may vibrato differently, or play a phrase a certain way, he explained. Playing and learning alongside 25 other nationalities will expose him to how different regions of the world make music.
And between rehearsals and performances, Williams will have a chance to listen to some of the world-class musicians at the festival. He said he’s most looking forward to hearing trumpeter Wynton Marsalis of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, especially to see how the audience reacts to great live jazz.
Williams originally played the saxophone because he wanted to connect to his “jazzy New Orleans roots,” but when he started middle school, he had to switch instruments since there weren’t enough tuba players. It was almost like the tuba chose him, he said. Williams later attended Tri-Cities High School in East Point where he received a full scholarship to study at Juilliard.
“[Juilliard] will prepare you in every way possible to have a career in music, and at times that can feel overwhelming, like there’s too many things to sign up for, there’s too many things to do,” he said. “But I’ve always been one that’s like, I’m going to take advantage of as many opportunities as I can.”
Credit: Courtesy of Thomas Brunot
Credit: Courtesy of Thomas Brunot
Helyar, who also grew up in Atlanta, attended auditions throughout the winter to select the right musicians for the festival. He said he still remembers Williams’ audition. Helyar was looking for someone who could play the tuba with lyricism, a difficult feat to achieve with such an awkward instrument. There is only one tuba player in the whole orchestra, and the role it plays in the “overall artistic quality cannot be overstated,” Helyar said.
“I’m listening for someone that has a level of technique that’s so superb that playing one of the most brutally awkward instruments in the orchestra, if not the most brutally awkward, it sounds as if that person is singing,” he said.
Helyar said he remembers sitting in New York and feeling nervous that they had yet to find someone to fill the tuba position, but Williams walked into the audition room later in the day, ready to ease Helyar’s anxieties. When he started playing, Helyar found himself thinking that the tubist had to come from somewhere in the South. He said it was the soulfulness with which Williams played the song “Overture to Die Meistersinger” that gave him away.
“I have a deep belief that soulfulness is at the absolute root of Atlanta culture,” he said. “And I think that applies to personalities, characters, but it also 100% applies to the kind of music that’s come out of [Atlanta] throughout so many years.”
Helyar said the level of artistry from Williams earned him a place as the orchestra’s sole tubist. Although it’s a lot of pressure for one person, Williams said the nerves and excitement mix so that it’s almost the same feeling.
Verbier is a way for Williams to transition into professional life before he starts at the Atlanta Symphony. Returning to Atlanta is like a full circle moment for him after finding his first introduction to classical music through the Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program, Williams said. In a twist of fate, the Atlanta Symphony’s principal tuba chair was his first private teacher.
“I’m hoping [Verbier will] only make me more confident and comfortable when I’m playing in the chair in Atlanta,” he said.
