Amateur Pianist
Nancy M. Williams is an amateur pianist who debuted in recital at Carnegie Hall in 2012. She performs as part of her speaking engagements on claiming your passion.
Nancy M. Williams is an amateur concert pianist who debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2012 for a master class recital. She has performed in Charleston, New York City, and Toronto as part of her speaking engagements on "Claiming Your Passion". She also has performed in concerts with the New York Piano Society and as a Volunteer Artist for Sing for Hope.
“Nancy Williams’ playing is characterized by a wonderful musicality, beautiful sound, and intensity of emotion. I have presented her at Carnegie Hall, and she performed in a thoroughly professional manner easily communicating her ideas to the audience. She presents herself with great poise and grace.”
— Cosmo Buono, Steinway Artist and Chairman and CEO, Alexander & Buono International
Videos
Carnegie Hall, New York City, February 2012
Stanford Women’s Network, National Opera Center, New York City, April 2014
Sing for Hope Piano, New York City, June 2013
Repertoire
Bach's Prelude in C Major, The Well Tempered Clavier, Book One
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude, Opus 28, No. 15
Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat Major, Opus 9, No. 2
Debussy's Reverie
Schubert's Andante from Sonata in A Major, Opus 120, D. 664
Schumann's #30, Album for the Young
Scriabin's Etude, Opus 2, No. 1
Nancy's Story
In 2005, I reclaimed the piano after a 25-year hiatus. I fell back into my passion almost by accident, after my husband enrolled with our then five-year-old in father-son piano lessons. When I sat down to play, there was only one problem: except for Middle C, that lovely piano note on its own line in between the two staffs, I could not remember any of the notes.
As a teenager, I had craved practice time. At the piano, I felt the hallmarks of a passion: bliss, and a quiet sense of belonging. The year I turned sixteen, I performed Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C Sharp Minor at my teacher’s recital. But that summer, I lost the piano, after family and financial pressures forced me to quit. I was told that with my hearing loss, I would never be a concert pianist.
Once I reclaimed the piano in my early 40s, I enrolled in adult piano lessons. At first it was slow going, until my teacher assigned Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude.” I felt the old bliss, my mind relaxing into a calm plain, the sensation of time slowing to a pleasurable crawl. At the piano, I was able to reflect on my life, and after a year of lessons, I left my then marketing job to pursue my dream to be a creative writer.
Once the piano became my companion again in life, my career as a speaker, writer, and hearing health advocate blossomed. One of the best days of my life was my master class recital in 2012 at Carnegie Hall. Today piano performance is an integral part of my “Claiming Your Passion” speaking engagements, an example of just how intoxicating a passion can be.