Nia Williams

I am a 23-year-old cellist from Neath, South Wales. I started learning at the age of 7 with Judith Daniel before studying with Sharon McKinley in Aberystwyth. In 2012, I was awarded the ABRSM Don Preece Memorial Prize for the highest mark at Grade 8 (strings), and in 2013 I won the gold medal for strings in the live televised final of the Urdd National Eisteddfod. At age 13, I gained entry to Chetham’s School of Music, where I studied with Gillian Thoday for four years. I have been a member of the West Glamorgan Youth Orchestra, Six Counties Youth Orchestra and National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain. I was also principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, as well as Chetham's Symphony Orchestra, Chetham’s Concert Orchestra, Chetham’s String Orchestra, and Chetham's Sinfonia. I was a finalist in Chetham’s Concerto Competition in 2017, where I performed Shostakovich Cello Concerto no.1, and have participated in masterclasses with Francis Gouton, Christoph Richter, Robert Cohen and Philip Higham. My performing experience include venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Bridgewater Hall, the Stoller Hall, St David’s Hall, and at the Cheltenham and Lichfield Festivals. In January 2018 I performed as part of a collaboration project at the Barratt Due Institute of Music, Oslo. Since September 2018, I have been studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama as a Guildhall School Scholar with Rebecca Gilliver. In September of that year, I played as a member of the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in our Induction Concert in the Barbican Hall. I was part of the String Ensemble project in November 2018 with Roberto Gonzales-Monjas and in January 2019 I performed in the Guildhall Studio Orchestra with Mark Lockheart, and again with the Orchestra with Jeremy Lubbock. In September 2019, I performed in the Proms Youth Ensemble premiering Horror Vacui, a piece for solo violin and 68 strings by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood in the BBC Proms, and in November 2019 played again as part of Guildhall Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall. In November 2022, I performed Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony as co-principal cellist of the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, again, at the Barbican Hall. Additionally, I was selected to be part of a Guildhall collaboration with the London Mozart Players in October 2022, where we performed a narrated piece about the Great Fire of London to an audience of primary school-age children. In September 2023 I performed as part of the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, and was principal cellist of a performance with the Guildhall Chamber Orchestra in October. I attended the Aboyne Cello Festival in 2019, where I received tutoring from Rebecca Gilliver, Philip Higham and James Halsey, and more recently, attended the Dorset Cello Classes in 2022 and 2023. I have also received chamber music coaching from members of the Endellion Quartet, Gould Piano Trio, Heath Quartet, Marmen Quartet and Takács Quartet.