Drew Williams

Drew William’s band, the eleven-piece Wing Walker Orchestra, released its debut album, Hazel, in February 2019 on ears&eyes Records. Hazel is a work of airy futurism with layered effects and electronic touches. The New York Times described it as "a remarkable debut album" and Downbeat Magazine named it one of the Best Albums of 2019. Wing Walker Orchestra performed and collaborated with Festival of New Trumpet Music from 2016-2019. Over the course of three festivals, organized by Dave Douglas, they arranged music by, and performed alongside, Shane Endsley, Ralph Alessi, Jason Palmer, Jonathan Finlayson, and Jaimie Branch. In addition to the Orchestra, Drew has toured and performed extensively across the country playing at prominent venues such as Jazz Gallery and Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City, Blue Whale in Los Angeles, California, and the Blue Room in Kansas City, Missouri. He also composes and arranges for jazz ensembles, symphony orchestra, youth chorus, and film. For five years he worked as an arranger for the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, working closely with Director and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Francisco J. Núñez. In addition to composing and arranging hundreds of pieces for the chorus, he arranged one of Francisco’s compositions for symphony orchestra, which premiered at Carnegie Hall. He recently moved back to his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri to pursue a DMA in music composition from the University of Kansas where he is the Graduate Teaching Assistant in Jazz Studies.

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