The Rev. Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams

May 14, 1930 – April 24, 1999

The Rev. Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams was the first major African-American presenter of classical music in the United States. He was dedicated to the racial and cultural integration and expansion of the classical music audience and of the concert stage. In 1958, he began presenting concerts by co-sponsoring the recital of Marian Anderson at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. He was founder and director for 35 years of the major recital series, Today’s Artists Concerts. In addition, for 22 years, Dr. Williams presented a series of concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall.

In 1981, Dr. Williams established the annual Yachats (Oregon) Music Festival. In 1993, he created Four Seasons Concerts, for which he served as President and Artistic Director until his death. He also served on the Boards of Directors of the Oakland Symphony and the Ross McKee Foundation for the Musical Arts, and was an honorary board member of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

In 1987, he narrated his own meditations on a program of Haydn’s Seven Last Words from the Cross performed by the Fresk String Quartet at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. He repeated this program in 1996 with Lebanese/French pianist Walid Akl, who played Haydn’s piano version of the work.

William Hazaiah Williams, Jr. was born in Columbus, Ohio on May 14, 1930, the youngest of six children born to Rev. William Hazaiah Williams and Cora Leon Williams. The family moved to Detroit when he was 11 years old. He attended Adrian College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wayne State University. He earned a Master of Theology from Boston University, and received two honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees, one from Pacific School of Religion and the other from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, both located in Berkeley.

In 1956, Dr. Williams founded an interdenominational community church, the Church For Today in Berkeley, where he was active as Pastor until his death. In 1969, he formed the Center For Urban-Black Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, also in Berkeley, where he was President and Professor for 20 years. He was also Professor at the San Francisco Theological Seminary and taught at the College of San Mateo. He was Founder and President of the Alamo Black Clergy, a San Francisco East Bay consortium of ministers of various denominations. He led civil rights causes in the San Francisco Bay Area and served as Executive Director of the East Bay Conference on Race, Religion and Social Justice. He hosted a radio show entitled “Dialogue,” bringing people together to discuss social issues relevant to the community. His community work also included 8 years of service on the Berkeley Board of Education, during the period in which the Berkeley schools were integrated.

Dr. Williams published an article entitled, “Racism: A Ravaging Sin” for The Witness, the publication of the Episcopal Church. He lectured at many colleges and universities throughout the country, including the California Institute of Technology, Howard University, Stanford University and Vanderbilt University. He delivered keynote addresses at conferences on racism of the National Protestant Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mission, and in the mid-1970’s, he was a delegate to the World Council of Churches’ Symposium on Black and Liberation Theology at Geneva, Switzerland.

The texts of some of Dr. Williams’ many sermons are available at www.churchfortoday.net.

Rev. Dr. William Hazaiah Williams presented his first classical music concert in 1958 when he co-sponsored Marian Anderson at the San Francisco Opera House. At the time, he lived in Berkeley on Dwight Way near California Street. Earlier, as he watched “the white ladies with their white gloves” board the Key System train that took them to matinee events in San Francisco, he envisioned a performance setting that would include all races both in the audience and on the stage. Actualizing this vision was to become his life’s work.

Dr. Williams’ first calling was as a minister. A consummate preacher and pastor, he believed that worship and the religious experience could be found many places outside the formal church and felt that the arts were a natural avenue for this manifestation.
In a 1983 interview, Dr. Williams said, “When I first started, nobody thought that the church should be involved with the arts … It was difficult for many to understand the relationship between religion and the arts. But the arts were born in the church – from dance to sculpture to music to painting … the church was the womb.”

Dr. Williams also stated: “There are many things in this life that are expressions of God … in a moment of pure art, in a concert hall, a person who may never come to a formal house of worship can have that broadening experience that is akin to the religious moment.”

Social Function of the Arts … Music a necessary line of community

Dr. Williams was also active in the community, especially during the Civil Rights Movement. His focus was on bringing people together – designing occasions where inclusion was emphasized and community created. He thought Art could be the binding force. A group of people representing a cross-section of the society, brought together sharing an experience of beauty, had the potential of creating social cohesion across racial, ethnic and cultural lines – “common unity” or community, established by a common sharing of artistic expression. Dr. Williams thought that concerts produced “instant” communication across artificial human boundaries, born out of shared musical experience.

This focus on community would express itself in the structure of the concert series as well. A transportation program allowed seniors to safely attend concerts at night; family plans that defined a family as two children and two adults allowed the widest possible definition of “family” and opened music to young people at reasonable prices. An outreach program to community colleges sought to instill in students a memory of how community could look, as they prepared for their adult lives.

When Dr. Williams started his work in the Arts, he was a pioneer – being the first African-American … or as the San Francisco Examiner stated in a 1963 article: “First Negro to step forward as a major concert impresario.” From this unique vantage point, Dr. Williams’ created an artists’ roster that showed a racial and ethnic diversity not seen on classical music stages. [PHOTO J] He gave many artists, especially African-American artists, their debuts in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City. Performances such as the American Symphony Orchestra with pianist Natalie Hinderas playing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 and a music festival celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Franz Liszt were presented both in San Francisco and in New York.

He designed the “Black Church Arts Program” which was administered by [now Congresswoman] Barbara Lee while she was a student at Mills College. The program was created to involve the community in classical music and to nurture classical musical talent within the Black Church.

In the 1980s, as South Africa was entrenched in apartheid, Dr. Williams added his dissent by not booking any artist that chose to perform in South Africa. This boycott of artists was a way of showing disdain for the apartheid system and its abhorrent rejection of community.

Art for Art’s Sake … for refreshment and relationship to beauty

Dr. Williams felt that musical art was like a crystal and should be viewed from as many ways as possible. He created programs that were unique in concept to bring audiences and artists together to experience music in new ways.

He paired the young unseasoned artists with older seasoned artists; put one genre of art such as Roland Hayes’ “Life of Christ Cycle” with Oliver Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus (20 Gazes/Contemplations on the Infant Jesus)”; introduced an all Zarzuela program with Puerto Rican artists; put a mother and son together in a piano-violin duo. He developed “theme” concerts with themes such as “Music from the Sea,” “Freedom,” “Sentiment;” offered new music just composed; showed composers in depth in mini-music festivals comprised of the composer’s works. He juxtaposed traditional sacred choral works with Spirituals to show the range of music on a religious touchstone; at a Klezmer concert, he brought to the stage a gifted young clarinetist from a local elementary school; showed his love of Lieder in recital and in presentations of Brahms’ “Liebeslieder” Waltzes and Schumann’s “Spanischeliebeslieder.”

In dance, Dr. Williams presented a flamenco dancer with the music of Ravel’s “Bolero;” a tap dancer with Bach; in addition to bringing local and world dance to the stage.

Drama also made its entrance with “Portraits of Immortal Woman,” “Enter Frederick Douglass,” and Haydn’s “Seven Last Words from the Cross,” accompanied by narrations written and performed by Dr. Williams.

Dr. Williams supported the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra by sponsoring a special Berkeley Symphony concert as they struggled to continue as an orchestra.

He presented the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the Maracaibo Symphony of Venezuela, the New Stockholm Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Budapest Strings.

Vocal groups made their appearance in the Hong Kong Children’s Choir, the Contra Costa Chorale, the Oakland Symphony Chorus, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the Deller Consort and the Boricua College Chorus.

Cultural Development … “Let me learn now where beauty is …”

It was Dr. Williams’ understanding that as audience members were exposed to a variety of artists, they would grow in their ability to make musical evaluations. They would be able to make assessment of what they heard and to form judgments on what they liked or disliked. This fresh understanding of musical criticism would be born based on the experience of an audience that reflected the community at large attending a diverse musical series.
Performers often commented on the new energy they received from Dr. Williams’ audiences who listened with “new ears.”

Yachats Music Festival … 30 years old

Dr. Williams’ dream of a music festival came true in the village of Yachats, Oregon. He told the artists who performed there that they were “sculptors in snow” …

they were entrusted to chisel their musical form in composition or musical performance which would shine brightly for a moment and be gone; then at another hour, they would be called to chisel again. Art, he said, is an “unorthodox task.” The artist is called upon to over and over again share their honed art and breathe new life into their audiences.

The Yachats Music Festival design was different from other festivals in that artists stayed the entire four days and performed in ensembles with others as well as individually. It was a time of relaxation and networking among artists; a time where the fusion of artist and audience with the splendors of nature created a special event. He called this magnificent music making of 20-25 artists a friendly sharing, the wondrous mystery of the Yachats Music Festival.

The Legacy….Artists’ Reflections

“In a world brimming with violence, anger, and pain, with ethnic and religious divisions all around us, Dr. Williams brought us all together in an oasis of music. Personally, he brought me together with colleagues from all races and musical disciplines, a truly rare and inspirational experience.” Clive Lythgoe, Pianist

“Dr. Hazaiah Williams was a remarkable inspiration in the lives of his artists. To all of us he not only offered encouragement and affirmation in our discipline, but also made clear to us that our artistic journey was also a spiritual one. To the public, he was an eloquent and dynamic promoter, not just of individual artists, but of the vital importance of music to the human spirit. We shall never forget him.” Joseph Kubera, Pianist

“Dr. Williams knew music, he knew the power of music to bring people together, and he knew how desperately people need to be brought together.” Dennis Helmrich, Pianist

“Dr. Williams was a tireless supporter of all musicians. Through his dynamic leadership he pushed back the barriers of racism. He will be greatly missed, but his legacy will be carried forth.” Yin Cheng-Zong, Pianist

“What impressed me so much about Dr. Williams was his wealth of knowledge about classical music and his keen listening ear.” David Burnett, Violinist

“When I met Dr. Hazaiah Williams, I did not consider myself to be a racist. I was the adoptive father of an interracial child. I had marched with Dr. King in Selma. But I had never given any thought to the way African Americans were generally excluded from my own field of performing and presenting classical and contemporary music. His example made me start to consciously address this issue…” Tom Buckner, Baritone
“Reverend W. Hazaiah Williams felt an artist was a person especially graced by God to communicate the most profound essence of God’s Love and Truth. He exhorted us to use that God-given talent with the purest of motives, not for self-aggrandizement or vanity.” Abraham Lind-Oquendo, Baritone

“He brought me from afar and gave me the opportunity to meet wonderful people in your part of the world. He helped me give a wider sense to my life and understand that I really belong to the world’s family of human beings who do not speak of, or consider, races or religions.” Francis Bebey, African Guitarist

“Who else would have withstood all the cruelties of racism, for the sake of his spiritual belief that God worked through the giving of art and through receiving it, it reaches down to the soul of a community.” Lorice Stevens French, Soprano

“Programs I played under his aegis, including the 50th anniversary of my debut at Carnegie Hall, were standouts in my musical life. ..he allowed me so much freedom to express my playing as I hoped I might…his gift of total confidence was that of a saintly being….together with sacred love of summer music-making at Yachats are examples of what it is all about—God love the man!” Grant Johannesen, Pianist

“His soul was full of love, wisdom, creativity. He gave us generously all those treasures. Only I can say that we will not keep them with us. Till the end of our lives we will give them back to others as He did all his beautiful life.” Ewa Podles, Contralto and Jerzy Marchwinski, Pianist

“Dr. Williams understood artists, understood the power of music and he was a man of vision. I was proud to be presented by him and I looked forward to his reactions to the concerts almost as much as I looked forward to performing the concerts….I’ve not met anyone who created what Dr. Williams did for so long, through thick and thin, good times and bad…I’ll really miss him.” David Tanenbaum, Guitarist

The Legacy…spirit of excellence still felt

Four Seasons Arts continues a unique niche in the world of classical music … commitment to musical excellence, unique programming, and inclusive audiences and a music festival unlike any other.

Dr. William’s journey as an impresario reminded us that: “The reason we love art is that it is something that is indigenous to the human spirit. We are a part of the beatific structure that is the universe, and when we hear a melody, we are brought back to the beauty in ourselves, and reminded that we are a logical extension of all the beauty of the world.”

Francis Bebey shared his deepest African belief as reminded in a poem by the Senegalese poet Birago Diop:

“Those who are dead are never gone.
They are in the brightened shadow
and in the thickening gloom.
The dead are not beneath the ground.
They are in the quivering tree.
They are in the groaning wood.
They are in the flowing water.
And in the still water.
They are in the heart.
They are in the crowd.
THE DEAD ARE NOT DEAD.”