The Inaugural Helen Tinch Williams Recital will be held Friday, April 29, at 8 p.m., in Rosch Recital Hall at SUNY Fredonia.
Featured artists include special guest soloist and soprano Nia Drummond, a former School of Music vocal student, who will join forces with School of Music Faculty members Dr. Nick Weiser, Kieran Hanlon, and Dr. John Bacon for the jazz portion of the program.
Joining Ms. Drummond for the classical portion of the program is pianist Matt Marco, ’15, who earned his Master of Music from SUNY Fredonia in Collaborative Piano and was Ms. Drummond's accompanist during their Fredonia years. Mr. Marco will accompany operatic arias, arts songs and selections from canon of the African American spiritual.
There is no ticket charge for the event and the public is invited to attend.
The recital honoring the work and legacy of Mrs. Williams, an alumna of the Fredonia Class of 1960, was delayed by COVID issues for a full year.
Mrs. Williams retired after 37 years in the Ossining public schools as a vocal music educator and an adjunct professor at Manhattanville College School of Education in Purchase. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Fredonia and a master’s degree from Manhattanville College, with additional studies at New York University.
Williams is a charter member of The Links Incorporated Greater Hudson Valley Chapter, African American Advisory Board of Historic Hudson Valley, Hope’s Door Advisory Board, American Women of African Heritage and former consultant to Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers.
In addition, Williams is recognized for her commitment as a mentor for college students, a caretaker for seniors, an advocate for a Bedford Hills Women’s Correctional Facility inmate, and for initiating the Dr. Richard Sheil Memorial Music Scholarship Fund through the Fredonia College Foundation.
Among her awards received are the 2001 March of Dimes Mother of The Year, 2006 Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow, 2010 SUNY Fredonia Jessie Hillman Award for Excellence in Education, 2011 The Dorothy Height Distinguished Black Family Award from the National Council of Negro Women and 2012 Dress for Success Toast to our Mothers.
In 2017, the Fredonia Alumni Association honored Williams with its Outstanding Achievement Award. Williams is co-author of a New York Times bestselling memoir with her daughter, Vanessa, “You Have No Idea,” which is described as a “candid story of a famous daughter, her no-nonsense mother and how they survived pageants, love, loss (and each other).”
Williams and her late husband, Milton A. Williams Jr., are the parents of two children, Vanessa and Christopher, and have four grandchildren and one great-grandson. The SUNY Fredonia alumna has instilled her passion for music and the arts through her children.
Mrs. Williams will be introduced by her son, Chris, at the event, which will also include a video greeting from her daughter, who will be performing that evening in New York City, appearing in a show on Broadway.
