Derek Williams

He is also a Fellow of Trinity College London, and an Honorary Member of the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia. Since 2007, he has taught Composition and Orchestration at the Edinburgh University Reid School of Music. Williams is a civil rights activist known for his 'Save Sibelius' campaign in the United Kingdom (2012–2013).

Derek Williams studied at Rosmini College, University of Auckland and Auckland College of Education. Training under Peter Godfrey, Juan Matteucci and Douglas Mews is recorded. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music, comedy film, crime film and documentary film. Works named in the authority record are Portfolio of compositions: Wilde - an opera in two acts.

• Name — Derek Williams • Born — 20 September 1952 • Birthplace — Gisborne, New Zealand • Occupation — * composer • music arranger • conductor • producer • musician • Genre — * opera • musical theatre • classical • jazz fusion • Years Active — 1972–present • Label — Mushroom Records

Williams first came to public notice in 1974 when he founded the New Zealand School of Music, through which with conductor Juan Matteucci he established the first non-university tertiary level qualification for conductors of music in the Southern Hemisphere. As a chorister, Williams performed in the 640 voice Third International Choral Festival at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts under Robert Shaw with Peter Godfrey's Auckland University Festival Choir, as well as at The White House, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations and at Westminster Abbey and King's College Chapel, Cambridge. As arranger, orchestrator, conductor and musician commissioned by international artists Stella Cole, Caroline O'Connor, Sir Robert Helpmann, Torvill and Dean, Grace Knight, Frank Bennett, Debbie Newsome, Sir Howard Morrison, and Australian screen composers Martin Armiger, Guy Gross, and Antony Partos, Williams is also known for his reorchestrations of tracks from hit records. His commissions have been performed in the Glass Hall (Tivoli Gardens) Copenhagen, the Royal Albert Hall, Garrick Theatre and Kings Place (London), at the Sydney Opera House and Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Australia, and at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Williams was the orchestrator and conductor of the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra for Guy Gross's music for Stephan Elliott's Frauds, starring Phil Collins, Hugo Weaving and Josephine Byrnes, and was choral and instrumental arranger of Gross's music for Elliott's Oscar winning film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He was the orchestrator and conductor for Martin Armiger's music for The Crossing, starring Russell Crowe, and was orchestrator for the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra for Antony Partos' music for Crush that was winner of Best Film Score at New Zealand Film and TV Awards and Best Sound Track. Williams was arranger and conductor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation double-platinum album Vince Jones & Grace Knight – Come in Spinner from the ABC miniseries Come in Spinner for record producer Martin Armiger, which won the ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album, peaked at No 4 on the ARIA Charts, and became the highest selling jazz album in Australian history with sales exceeding 230,000 copies. He was producer, arranger and conductor for Frank Bennett's EMI Music album Cash Landing, nominated at ARIA Music Awards of 1999 for Best Adult Contemporary Album. He was composer for Ruaridh M. Turner's The Beast in the Storm, which won Order of Merit in the Indie Fest and Best Action/Thriller/SciFi – Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. In 2016, Williams was conductor of the Lothian Festival Orchestra for live performances of The Snowman at St Mary's Collegiate Church, Haddington and in 2021 he was conductor of the Linlithgow String Orchestra and Abbotsford String Orchestra. In 2026, Williams was commissioned by Danish conductor Mikkel Rønnow and American jazz singer Stella Cole to adapt arrangements he had originally scored for Caroline O'Connor in 2005, for concerts at the Glassalen Copenhagen.

Born 1952 to Agnes ('Nancy') Williams (née Anderson), an office clerk from Bathgate, Scotland and Edward ('Ted') Williams, a New Zealand farmer, Williams spent his early childhood in Gisborne, New Zealand and Rotorua. Descended from Henry Williams, a missionary, and Marianne Coldham, an educator, Williams' grandfather, Claud Williams, was an explorer of the Libyan Egyptian desert during World War I earning the Military Cross for his Report on the Military Geography of the North-Western Desert of Egypt (War Office Handbook), used by the Long Range Desert Group in the Tobruk campaign against Rommel. In 2010, the Royal Geographical Society co-opted Williams as family representative for its publication of Claud's autobiographical memoir, Light Car Patrols 1916–19, and he was guest speaker at the 2013 book launch. Educated at Rosmini College (Auckland) 1964–1970 while studying piano with Mary Nathan in Milford, Williams completed his early tertiary studies at the University of Auckland under Charles Nalden, Douglas Mews and Peter Godfrey, winning the Professor Hollinrake Memorial Scholarship and Senior Scholarship Award, graduating with a Bachelor of Music (BMus) in 1974. He followed this with a Diploma in Education (DipEd) from the Auckland Secondary Teachers College in 1978, subsequently qualifying DipTchg, and later as DipTeach after moving to New South Wales, Australia. Continuing his piano studies with Mary Nathan alongside his undergraduate degree, Williams also gained professional diplomas through Trinity College London, qualifying as a Licentiate in Music (LMusTCL) and later being awarded a Fellowship (FTCL) in 1977. He completed his formal academic training under supervisors Peter Nelson and Nigel Osborne at the University of Edinburgh, where he was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in composition in 2012.

World tour as a chorister with the 40-voice Auckland University Festival Choir, conducted by Professor Peter Godfrey, a King's College, Cambridge alumnus and founder of the New Zealand Choral Federation and the Symphonia of Auckland. During the 3rd International University Choral Festival, at the United Nations, the choir participated in a massed chorus of 16 international choirs conducted by Willi Gohl, followed by a concert of 640 voices on 30 April 1972 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts New York under Robert Shaw. During the US tour, the choir also performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at a White House reception with the First Lady, Pat Nixon, on the eve of the breaking of the Watergate scandal. In the United Kingdom, the Festival Choir performed at Westminster Abbey and at King's College, Cambridge in a joint concert with King's College Choir with Sir David Willcocks. They were met by composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears for the choir's recital at the Snape Maltings and the choir won praise for its performances in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore. In 1998, there was a CD re-release of its LP, recorded straight after the world tour. Lauded as the "best choir New Zealand has produced", Godfrey's Festival Choir continued to hold decennial reunions until his death in 2017. • Illustration — Williams (L) age 19 in Auckland University Festival Choir uniform by Colin Cole with friend after the choir's Lincoln Center performance (26 April 1972).

During his tenure as teacher in charge of Music at Rotorua Boys' High School from 1979 to 1985, Williams was performer and musical director for numerous community productions, including Jesus Christ Superstar starring Rob Guest and as joint MD with Peter Lette for the Rotorua Operatic Society's 1980 production of Godspell at the Sir Howard Morrison Performing Arts Centre. In 1982, Williams was also keyboards player for Sir Howard Morrison. In 1984, he was seconded from teaching to work as a computer programmer of educational applications for New Zealand schools on the Poly-1 that allowed New Zealand educators to design and deliver curricula on class computer networks.

In 1981 Williams was orchestrator and musical director for the world première and cast album of Eaton Magoon Jr and Sir Robert Helpmann's Hawaiian musical Aloha, starring Derek Metzger and directed by Robert Young for Hamilton Operatic Society at the Founders Theatre. Aloha received favourable reviews, with the New Zealand Herald reporting, "Derek Williams' orchestra helps to make the evening a success," and a cast recording produced by Carl Doy was made of the show at Mandrill Studios. The world premiere was followed in 1985 by a Michael Edgley revival production at His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, directed by Joe Layton, also starring Metzger and Hollywood actress Patricia Morison, with Williams continuing as production arranger and musical director.

From 1985, Williams was musical director and keyboards player for productions at Australia's Wonderland, Phillip Street Theatre, Glen Street Theatre and Sydney Theatre Restaurants Ltd and from 1985 to 1988 he was orchestrator for the Australian Singing Competition, initially at the Sydney Opera House. He was also a keyboards player for over 400 performances of Cats for Cameron Mackintosh at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, the longest running show in Australian history, and for its 1994 revival by the Really Useful Group at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. Following the success of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Come in Spinner (miniseries) and platinum spin-off album Vince & Grace, Williams continued as musical director and arranger for the CD launch and Grace Knight's promotional tour for Kevin Jacobsen, as well as for tours with Perfect Match star, Debbie Newsome. Williams was an early adopter and exponent of digital music technology, using two Kurzweil K250 ROM sample instruments in his orchestrations for the ill-fated Australian Bicentenary musical Manning Clark's History of Australia - The Musical, one of whose composers was record producer and film composer Martin Armiger. Williams thereafter began working with Armiger in various roles for 15 film and TV scores and was also orchestrator and conductor for screen composers Guy Gross and Antony Partos. In 1989, Williams and Armiger were called as expert witnesses in the Federal Court of Australia supporting a copyright infringement case brought by Guy Gross against CBS Records Australia Limited and Collette Roberts, with the court finding in the defendants' favour. Also in 1989, Williams was choral arranger and pianist for Torvill and Dean's album Here We Stand, produced by Kevin Stanton, and recorded while Christopher Dean was laid up in Sydney, recuperating from a torn ligament. From 1995 to 1997, Williams was musical director and Conductor of the Orchestra and Choir of the Waverley-Randwick Philharmonic Society, while studying conducting with Myer Fredman. In 1998, Williams was record producer, arranger and conductor for Frank Bennett's album Cash Landing for EMI Music Australia, which was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album (1999) and from 1989 to 2006, he was a Higher School Certificate examiner and advisor in Music and Computing Studies for the New South Wales Board of Studies while teaching at Randwick Boys High School (1985–2006). In 2005, Williams began a long-standing association with Caroline O'Connor as arranger for her show End of the Rainbow at the Sydney Opera House and for her album A Tribute to Garland recorded at the Opera House, and launched in an outdoor big band concert in Sydney's Taronga Park with Williams as keyboardist. Williams was also commissioned as arranger for her debut performance at Kander and Ebb – The Night of 1000 Voices on 6 May 2007, at the Royal Albert Hall, produced by Hugh Wooldridge and conducted by David Firman with John Kander present, subsequently for her Garrick Theatre season of The Showgirl Within, and for the opening of Hamer Hall, Melbourne.

Williams was répétiteur and assistant conductor for Edinburgh Grand Opera's production of Faust, and was musical director for the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group's production of Salad Days for the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He was also Funding Manager for Edinburgh Studio Opera and the Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble. In 2008, Williams joined with Professor Nigel Osborne in his Balkans Music Therapy camps in Mostar and Rakovica for Bosnian War orphans, on behalf of Edinburgh University. He was also commissioned by Osborne to create Vienna Symphonic Library transcriptions of his orchestral arrangements for the Bootleg Beatles concerts It Was Fifty Years Ago Today, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall and Echo Arena Liverpool. In 2013, Williams' one act opera Medea received its world premiere at the Edinburgh Jazz Bar during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and was repeated at Edinburgh University's Reid Concert Hall. In 2015, Williams was arranger, conductor and composed additional music for the Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Whisky ad campaign featuring Calma Carmona performing the Franz Ferdinand song Love Illumination with the orchestra of the Scottish Opera arranged and conducted by Williams, which gained 1.7 million hits on YouTube. In 2018, the Hindemith Trio commissioned and performed the world premiere of Williams' The Traveller for the Fondazione Giorgio e Aurora Giovannini at the Parma Conservatory, Italy. Williams was elected Chair of the Wagner Society of Scotland in 2017, and has presented lectures on The Third Reich, Wahnfried, Siegfried Wagner and the Christianity of Richard Wagner. He represents the Society at the Bayreuth Festival and at the annual RWVI Congress, and since June 2024 has served on the RWVI Presidium. In Spring of 2026, Williams was commissioned by Danish conductor Mikkel Rønnow and American jazz singer, Stella Cole to refashion arrangements of the Judy Garland classics "The Man That Got Away" and "Almost Like Being in Love" he had scored in 2005 for Caroline O'Connor at the Sydney Opera House and Taronga Park, for concerts at the Glass Hall (Tivoli Gardens) ("Glassalen") Theatre in Copenhagen. The concerts played to capacity audiences, who gave spontaneous standing ovations, and received favourable reviews, with Danish critic Michael Søby describing the orchestra as "extraordinarily well-played" and "The Man That Got Away" as one of the highlights.

On 19 July 2012, the 'Save Sibelius' activist group was formed by Derek Williams to try to future-proof the Sibelius scorewriter application after Avid Tech fired all but three of the Sibelius development team and closed their London office to relocate jobs offshore to Ukraine and California. Williams co-opted Richie Vitale and a small team of other musicians to petition Avid to reverse their decision. Because of past experience with orphaned music technology and abandonware such as the Mosaic notation program and OMS, it was feared that the Sibelius application would likewise ultimately cease development, thereby leaving its users without updates to ensure the application would remain compatible with future operating system upgrades. To raise public awareness among the half million Sibelius users, the group launched a Facebook campaign, duplicated on Google Plus. Within its first week, 485,000 Facebook hits were generated, with 12,000 followers joining the page, alongside growing music industry media interest. The Avid board of directors, who had been targeted by a letter writing campaign initiated from the Save Sibelius website, began issuing public reassurances on their own blog websites and social media that they intended to keep Sibelius alive. After Williams' 6 August 2012 Podcast interview with The Audio Podcast, there followed a BBC Radio 4 radio interview about the campaign on You and Yours with composer Paul Mealor on 24 August 2012, indicating that Sibelius users were not convinced. In October 2012, after attempts by the Sibelius creators, brothers Ben and Jonathan Finn and other investors approached by the group to buy back the application from Avid proved unsuccessful, Williams launched a Change.org petition called "chris-gahagan-senior-vice-president-of-products-sell-sibelius" to try to persuade Avid Tech to divest itself of Sibelius. After reaching 11,590 signatures, the petition was presented by Williams in person to Sibelius Software executives from Avid invited to an extraordinary meeting held by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) at its London offices on 3 October. Amid subsequent collapsing share performance that involved Avid's delisting by NASDAQ, Avid Tech CEO Gary Greenfield stepped down, while Bobby Lombardi was replaced by long-time Sibelius employee Sam Butler as the new Sibelius product manager. Central to the Save Sibelius campaign were the issues of orphaned technology, abandonware, planned obsolescence, asset stripping, and the perceived impact of Avid Tech's actions on employees, shareholders and consumers. The firing of the Sibelius development team led directly to their engagement by the Yamaha Corporation subsidiary Steinberg to develop a rival application to Sibelius. Williams ended the campaign in February 2013, after Steinberg announced they had hired the majority of the former Sibelius development team to develop Dorico, under the stewardship of former Sibelius product manager, Daniel Spreadbury. The Facebook 'Save Sibelius' campaign created by Williams and Vitale remains active, with 9,300 followers.

After having worked with New Zealand Labour Party MP Fran Wilde in support of her Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986, from 1990 Williams became involved with LGBT rights in New South Wales Australia, initially as a witness for a discrimination case brought by Redjoy Pty Ltd (trading as 'Gai Expectations') against Sydney City Council Employees Credit Union, interviewed on Nine Network's A Current Affair by Eric Campbell. In 1991, amid a spate of murders of gay men by school-age youths, Williams co-founded and was six times re-elected co-convenor of the Gay & Lesbian Teachers & Students Association (GaLTaS), established to publicise widespread problems of anti-gay bullying and violence in Australian schools, and to provide support to its victims. In March 1993, GaLTaS was awarded a Federal National Youth Grant of $30,000 (=c.$72,947.57 equivalent in 2026) by the Australian Government to assess the scale of school-based homophobia. From May 1993, Williams began to call on the parliament to remove private schools' LGBT+ related exemptions from the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. In the course of his GaLTaS co-convenorship, while teaching at Randwick Boys High School, Williams worked with New South Wales Education Minister Virginia Chadwick, MP Clover Moore, Australian Medical Association President Kerryn Phelps, Parents and Citizens (P&C), PFLAG, the New South Wales Teachers Federation, New South Wales Anti-discrimination Board and NSW Police concerning ongoing issues of school homophobia. During GaLTaS' active period, Williams frequently appeared in press and television coverage of LGBT issues, including the Today Show, The 7.30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Attitude program Nine Network's 60 Minutes and the TV series Sex episode "Homosexuality", and was interviewed by Quentin Dempster, Eric Campbell and Sophie Lee. In 1997 Williams addressed the Parliament of Australia forum on youth suicide convened by then Prime Minister, John Howard, working with PFLAG who also attended. In the same year, he was a GaLTaS witness in submissions on behalf of LGBT+ teachers and students to the Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission under Chris Sidoti and the Justice James Roland Wood Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service. In 1998, GaLTaS was absorbed into the New South Wales Teachers Federation as a Special Interest Group, with Williams as a founding member. Since 2008, Williams has been active in LGBT+ politics in Scotland and in 2018, was co-opted as Meetings Secretary of the Edinburgh University Staff Pride Network.