Born in Berkeley, California and raised in Sonoma County, William Williams began his music education at the age of 6 studying piano with Alice Moratto.  His string instruction started later at the age of 13 with viola study with Mildred Murphy.  Early work in orchestras as a student began with Eugene Shepherd.  Rapidly advancing on the instrument, Williams joined the Sonoma County Junior Symphony under Mr. Shepherd’s direction.  Following high school graduation, Williams attended the University of San Francisco as a Music Major taking classes at the SF Conservatory of Music.  He studied Viola with David Schneider and composition with Kirke Mechem.  In 1973, Williams moved to Fresno State University and studied viola with Werner Lywen and composition with David Bates, Wilson Coker, and Steven Gilbert.  Conducting studies were with Dr. Jack Fortner, Dr. Arthur Huff, and Fresno Philharmonic Music Director Guy Taylor.  He graduated with his B.A. in Performance and Composition in 1974.

Williams joined the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra in 1973 where he played section viola.  Following his tenure with Fresno, Mr. Williams moved back to Santa Rosa in 1974 and joined the Santa Rosa Symphony as a section viola.  Still with the SRS today, Mr. Williams now plays in the second violin section.  A dedicated member of the “Freeway Philharmonic,”  Williams also plays regularly in numerous Northern California Regional Orchestras such as the Napa Valley Symphony.  As well as performing with these groups, Williams performs often with show orchestras for such notable performers as Johnny Mathis, Natalie Cole, and Smokey Robinson.  Mr. Williams is also quite active in musical theater as he spent ten seasons as Music Director/Conductor of the Summer Repertory Orchestra in Santa Rosa, and later served in the same capacity with Woodminster Theater in Oakland.

As an educator, Mr. Williams started his career at Cardinal Newman High School as Chair of the Fine/Applied Arts Department and Music Teacher.  He taught classes in Band, Chorus, Music Appreciation and Guitar for nearly ten years.  From 1979 through 2011, Williams was conductor of the Santa Rosa Symphony’s Preparatory Orchestra, a training orchestra for young musicians.  In 1995 he founded the Discovery Orchestra, an intermediate training orchestra in which he served as Music Director/Conductor until 2011.  Williams also conducted the Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestra as Interim Director.  In 2000 Williams was honored as KDFC’s first Outstanding Music Educator.  At the college level, Mr. Williams developed and taught the audio engineering program at Santa Rose Junior College from 1985 until 2005.  He continues his long career in education teaching privately through the Music To My Ears Music Center in Cotati, California.

Mr. Williams did graduate work in Organizational Development at Sonoma State University and soon after began consulting for fine arts and non-profit groups.  Williams specializes in producing fun interactive workshops, retreats, and presentations in Leadership, Communication, Team Building, Goal Setting, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Effectiveness.  He produced the first conference on Music Education in Sonoma County and has worked extensively at the University level with Student Governments, Student Center Advisory Boards, and non-profit groups.

In the mid 70’s Williams and his two close friends Denis Hulett and Theresa Stoops formed a partnership in the development of the rock/pop band Ocean Breeze, a popular band that worked for a number of years on the west coast.  Desiring to record and produce their own product, the group constructed and operated a recording studio which specialized in live music recording, albums, and commercial jingles.  Williams learned his engineer and producing abilities through the studio and also took study in engineering.  He produced numerous recording projects for commercial use including jingles, underscoring for films, and radio productions of live symphony recordings for broadcast.  It was also at this time that Williams began to lend his voice to commercial voice overs and narration for film, tv, and cds.  Williams has worked in virtually all musical styles from classical, to rock, to jazz, and hip-hop.

Today Bob still resides at his childhood home in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma County, where he lives with his wife Loretta.  As well as enjoying all aspects of his work in the music industry, Williams enjoys spending time with his grand children Taylor (6), Alexis (4), and Giovanni (18 months) who bring him constant joy and inspiration.