Tricia Dawn Williams
Description
Improvisation & Pop style chord progressions
Rhythm through movement and percussion instruments, Theory through board and card games.
Tricia Dawn Williams is a Maltese pianist of Irish and Welsh descent who is passionate about contemporary music, multimedia and new technologies. She creates innovative and immersive performances that combine video art, electronics and extended piano techniques. She is also a pioneer in using motion-capture technology to control and trigger electronic sounds with the MYO band interface on her forearms. She has commissioned, premiered and recorded numerous works by composers from different countries and backgrounds.
Williams has performed in prestigious venues and festivals around the world, such as Les Invalides in Paris, Béla Bartόk Memorial House in Budapest, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, The Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus, Arena New Music Festival in Riga, European Capital of Cultures in Pafos and Lithuania, Festival International de Carthage in Tunis, John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, Cape Town Festival in South Africa, Riverside Theatre in Sydney, ppIANISSIMO Festival in Sofia, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Meervart Musiktheater in Amsterdam, International Izmir Festival in Turkey, Oxford Festival of the Arts in UK, Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy, Satosphère – Société des arts technologiques in Montreal, Canada and The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie in Belgium.
In 2019, her project TRANSITion was selected by Classical:Next as one of the 11 most innovative and inspiring projects out of 200 applicants worldwide. Classical:Next is a platform that brings together the diverse scenes of classical music and offers them a forum to exchange and develop new ways for classical and contemporary music.
Tricia Dawn Williams has a fascination with the toy piano and its repertoire. In 2020, she connected with several composers worldwide and recorded various pieces for this instrument. She also gave online performances for Classical Next in Germany, Porto Pianofest in Portugal and the Three Palaces Festival in Malta. She was featured in Black Dress Code digital concert library as well. In 2022, she performed and recorded Ruben Zahra’s ‘Kinderklavier Concerto’ with the Brno Contemporary Orchestra, which is available on major digital music platforms.
In 2024, Williams launched the project ToyPiano+ with the support of Arts Council Malta. This project explores the artistic potential of the toy piano as a concert instrument and involves the participation of 13 Maltese and international composers, 3 video artists as well as the collaboration with writer Trevor Zahra and actor Joseph Galea. As part of this project the album TINY KEYS BIG SOUNDS was produced by PARMA RECORDINGS
Williams owns 10 toy pianos, 5 of which are vintage. She is endorsed by the Schoenhut Toy Piano company, the oldest and largest manufacturer of toy pianos in the world.
In 2022, she established the Piano & Percussion WOW Duo with renowned Chinese percussionist Beibei Wang and they made their debut at the Oxford Festival of the Arts in the UK followed by another performance in Malta.
Williams started playing the piano at a very early age with Rita Micallef and was later mentored on 20th century music by Pawlu Grech. She has also attended masterclasses with pianist Margaret Leng Tan on the music of George Crumb. She is the secretary of the ‘Malta Association for Contemporary Music’, a group dedicated to promoting the performance and understanding of contemporary music in Malta and Project Manager for ENCORE Arts & Culture Magazine.