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William R. “Bob” Williams,
Discovery & Preparatory Orchestras Music Director
William R. “Bob” Williams, music director and conductor of the Santa Rosa Symphony’s Discovery & Preparatory Orchestras, is himself a graduate of the Junior Symphony, now known as the SRS Youth Orchestra. Having lived all of his life in Sonoma County, his early music study included piano with Alice Moratto, viola with Mildred Murphy and orchestra with Eugene Shepherd.
During the early 1970’s, Williams majored in music, studying violin and viola with David Schneider and later with Warner Lywen. He also studied composition with Kirk Mechem, David Bates, Wilson Coker and Steven Gilbert. His conducting studies included direction from Dr. Jack Fortner and Guy Taylor.
Throughout his career, Williams has been very active in the music industry as a performer, recording engineer/producer and composer. He has done numerous recordings for radio, television, film and records. He has also performed in numerous rock, jazz and pop bands on bass and electric violin.
Williams has played violin and viola with a number of West Coast orchestra including Fresno, Vallejo, Napa, and Modesto. He has been a violin/violist with the Santa Rosa Symphony since 1975. In 1979 he assumed the baton of Preparatory Orchestra. Along with his regular duties with the Santa Rosa Symphony, Williams volunteers in several capacities. He founded and co-chaired the Sonoma County Conference on Music Education, and developed the Elementary Schools Listening Program for which he produced hundreds of tapes with commentary for elementary schools.
Williams completed graduate work in Organization Development and consults in leadership training, team building and human resource development. He is currently an administrator in the Student Affairs Division at Sonoma State University, as well as serving on the music faculty at the Santa Rosa Junior College where he teaches audio engineering and recording.
