That Would Be Grammy Winner...

The Other Grammy Winner
By Esther Iverem—BET.com Contributing Critic

John McLaughlin Williams won a Grammy for his conducting of Messiaen: Oiseaux Exotiques (Exotic Birds) by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony

Iverem: You won a Grammy in the classical music category for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra, yet most Blacks, or music lovers in general, don't know you. Does that anonymity bother you? How have you handled that?

Williams: On a personal level I am not annoyed by a lack of awareness of my pursuits. Rather, I am saddened that the classical arts generally, and classical music specifically, do not command more significant attention from African Americans. Historically, in the Black community this was not always the case. I handle it by making a concerted and ceaseless effort to inform audiences of the timeless contributions by Black composers from the 18th century to today through performances and lectures. Strictly speaking, I’m not anonymous, thanks to the stack of recordings I’ve done on a major classical label with worldwide distribution. Because of that, many more people have heard of me than have ever actually seen me in concert. There is a large and vital community of classical music lovers who are aware of the accomplishments of musicians of color, but for reasons too lengthy to recount here, this remains largely invisible to the African American community.

Iverem: What led you to classical music and what is your instrument(s)?

Williams: My parents played piano very well, and they were extremely well versed in classical, jazz and popular music. They were part of a generation of African Americans (as their parents were before them) that considered this to be an integral part of a general education, an asset that would help ensure intellectual acuity and, ultimately, financial prosperity. They made sure that I heard copious amounts of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin (along with Bud Powell and the Supremes) before I began violin lessons in the public schools of Washington D.C. That was in the days when public schools had string education programs, most of which have since disappeared from the curriculum. Later I began to play the piano, a skill that has proven indispensable to effective orchestral conducting.

Iverem: What is it like to be a classical musician today? What is your life like?

Williams: While it is thrilling to be involved with some of the world’s greatest musical thoughts on a daily basis, there is a hermetic feeling of being not quite in the mainstream that is greater now than ever before. (This was not always the case, but things began to change in the late 1960’s. The reasons for this are myriad, and warrant a discussion of their own.) More specifically, my time is spent studying scores for performance, researching composers, tracing recondite works and manuscripts, coming up with programming ideas for new recordings, making recordings and playing concerts. There is quite a bit of travel involved. I also still perform as a violinist.

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