David Williams OAM graduated from the Melbourne University Institute of Education with a Bachelor of Education in Music Pedagogy before completing a Master of Arts (Performance) in Double Bass at Monash University. He studied with Steve Reeves, Mariyan Brysha, Geoff Kluke and Neil Jowsey.
David spent much of his performing career in jazz, working with many of Australia's leading bandleaders. He has performed in orchestras and bands accompanying artists including Debra Byrne, Rhonda Burchmore, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Allen and Motown legend Gil Askey. He has also performed with the State Orchestra of Victoria and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of its Education Week program.
As a freelance bassist, David performed and recorded extensively with the Cotton Club Orchestra and worked as a session musician on recordings by contemporary Australian composer Felix Werder, numerous television and radio jingles, and the feature film Romper Stomper. He has also recorded with Gippsland country artist Steve Messer and has toured internationally, performing throughout England, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Belgium and Austria.
His conducting studies included tuition with Peter Clinch, Barry Bignall, John Hopkins AM OBE and Graham Abbott through the Symphony Australia Conductor Development Program. He has also undertaken extensive vocal studies in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand with Ann Marie Speed, Stephanie Marko, Helen Tiller and Jo Estill.
As a musical director, David has led more than 80 productions, including Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, The Wizard of Oz, The Mikado, My Fair Lady, Singin' in the Rain, Oklahoma!, Cats, Carmen, Seussical, Shrek, Little Shop of Horrors, Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, Les Misérables (twice), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and is currently preparing for Frozen.
In 2004 and 2009, David conducted the Latrobe City Youth Band on concert tours of China and Japan. He co-founded Class Act Productions and, between 2015 and 2019, worked with Manhattan Concert Productions, providing young Australian performers with the opportunity to perform in a Broadway production in New York.
Throughout his teaching career, David made significant contributions to music education across regional Victoria. He served on the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Regional Teachers Forum, the Orchestra Victoria mOVe Schools Program Steering Committee, the Latrobe Regional Arts Forum and the Latrobe City Sister Cities Committee.
David recently retired after a distinguished 35-year career in Victorian government education, including 30 years as a Leading Teacher and Learning Specialist at Lowanna College in Newborough. He is the Founder, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Gippsland Symphony Orchestra, an organisation he established in 2015 to provide high-quality orchestral performance opportunities for musicians across the region.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution to music education and the performing arts, David was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2012 Australia Day Honours.
Gippsland Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledge the support of Joseph Barake and all at 3BBR, The Wedge,
West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul Anglican Church, St Joseph's Catholic Church, Berninneit Cultural Centre, The Forge Theatre, Yarram Regent Theatre, Warragul Gazette, South Gippsland Sentinel Times, Gippsland Times, ABC Gippsland.
Gippsland Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands across Gippsland on which we live, rehearse and perform. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.