Albany Records has released Crossings, a CD of music by Assitant Professor of Music Amy Williams. The CD takes its title from Williams' 2009 work commissioned by the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society. Williams and Helena Bugallo, who together form the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, premiered the piece in Pittsburgh as part of a sereies of concerts celebrating the city's 250th anniversary. Williams and Bugallo also perform togther on Abstracted Art 1 and 2, while Williams contributes solo performances of Brigid's Flame (2009) and Falling (2012).
The JACK Quartet is featured on Williams' Richter Textures, a composition they premiered at The Andy Warhol Museum as part of the Music on the Edge series. Williams collaborates with JACK as a performer as well, joining them on her 2007 work Cineshape 2 for piano and string quartet.
Pianist Jeffrey Jacob rounds out the album with his performance of Williams Astoria (2004).
According to The Buffalo News, Williams' music is
“… simultaneously demanding, rewarding and fascinating in its own way… This is cerebral music, to be sure, but of impressive warmth and wit and all played to composer specifications (much of it, of course, by her).”
One of the most striking aspects of this collection, which spans 10 years of Williams' compositional output, is the variety of influences and inspirations from which she draws: Bach chorales, jazz piano, tango, painting, film, poetry, and even a saint. The recording presents a composer with broad intellectual interests and the ability to integrate all these into a seamless creative whole.