Essence Williams

As a full-time member of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, Essence Williams is looking forward to her third season! At the age of twelve, Williams started playing the violin. Since then, she has come to love the instrument even more. Williams is currently an incoming Sophomore at Saint Louis University (SLU). At SLU, Essence is pursuing Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with plans of becoming a Speech Language Pathologist. She is also a music minor. Outside of orchestra, Essence is heavily involved in music. Williams recently concluded her last year as a member of the Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra at Webster University’s Community Music School in 2023. Previously, Williams was a member of the Young People’s Concert Orchestra for two years at CMS. Shortly after she began playing her instrument, Williams joined the Gateway Music Outreach (GMO) program led by James McKay. Through GMO, Williams has earned many opportunities to collaborate with established artists, such as multiple Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald and Grammy-nominated duo Black Violin. She has also had opportunities to work with soul singer, Brian Owens and upcoming artist, Malena Smith. For the past six years, Essence has been a member of the SLSO’s Peer to Peer Program alongside GMO. She has had the chance to participate in masterclasses with SLSO violinists Joo Kim and David Halen. Now, Essence is excited for her third year as a YO mentor in the Peer-to-Peer Program. Essence is incredibly grateful for all the opportunities that she has received. 
In her free time, Essence enjoys photography, doing arts and crafts, reading, playing with her dog Rocky, and spending time with her friends and family. After college, Essence plans to continue working towards a career in Speech Language Pathology and Music Performance. 
Essence would like to thank her GMO and Peer to Peer family: James McKay, Jessica Gates-Little, Maureen Byrne, Joseph Hendricks and Malena Smith. She would also like to thank her teachers and mentors: John McGrosso, Patrick Jackson, Andrew Pulliam, Adrian Walker, James Nacy and Joo Kim. In addition, Essence would like to thank SLSYO alumni: Allie Peng, Becky Lang, and Ellie Yang. Lastly, Essence would like to thank her family, especially her mom for always being her number one fan!