| Welcome
to the first edition of the Roger Williams newsletter,
KEY NOTES, to be issued on his Web site every 3-4
months. My name is Pauline Vang, from Rochester,
New York, and I will be doing the honors. Indeed,
it is an honor and a privilege to be working on this
project. Roger Williams has been my favorite pianist
since AUTUMN LEAVES came out in 1955, and I was thrilled
when Roger appointed me as president of his fan club
in 1965, which was active until 1985. We have been
personal friends now for some 45 years.
To bring you up-to-date on Roger’s career,
you can check out the new biography published by
Dale Sheets and International Ventures, Inc. here
on the Website.
Roger is very active in working to bring music education
back into the public schools in the L.A. area by
giving free concerts at school assemblies, showing
the students there is music out there besides rap
and hip-hop. Roger is amazed that many students have
never heard of George Gershwin. So, he introduces
them to the great pop composers, many classical
composers and jazz artists.
Roger works in depth with the International Foundation
for Education and Performing Arts, Inc. (IFEPA) in
L.A. in their music education program. On December
1, 2000 the IFEPA honored Roger by presenting him
with their 2000
Spirit of Life Award for Lifetime Achievement at
the International Concerts Ball, held in the Beverly
Hills Hotel’s Rodeo Ballroom.
On January 19, 2002 Roger, as Honorary Chairman
of the Foundation’s Advisory Board, decided
to honor Henry Z. Steinway, Pres. and CEO of Steinway
and Sons at a fabulous musical celebration to benefit “Music
For Kids, USA” (a project of IFEPA for students’ in-school
outreach program). This was also held in the Rodeo
Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel. “Music
For Kids, USA” works
closely with the L.A. Unified School District. The
recently proven Mozart Theory says that music helps
students learn faster and retain information. IFEPA
has expanded on this theory to give students a true
sense of direction by offering its in-school outreach
program of intimate and informal contact with today’s
most celebrated artists, granting scholarships, donating
pianos and sponsoring school recitals for young musicians.
On May 21, 2003 Roger was honored at a celebrity
luncheon at the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach,
CA., sponsored by the Big Canyon/Spyglass Hill Philharmonic
Committee of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
The purpose of the Philharmonic Society is to enrich
young lives through the power of music. As Benefit
Chairman of the event, Jacque Heebner presented Roger
with the inaugural Spirit of the Future Award. Dr.
Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral,
gave the invocation and did the honors of introducing
Roger to those in attendance (which included his
family). The highlight of the afternoon was the special
hour performance given by Roger and his quintet.
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In June 2003 Steinway
and Sons celebrated its 150th anniversary by presenting
a 3-day “Celebration of Music” at Carnegie
Hall (June 5-7). Participants in the three concerts
were those artists who use Steinway pianos exclusively
in their concerts. Roger’s June 7 appearance
was part of the pop music segment in which he and
his back-up group did three numbers: “Whirlaway” (his
own composition), a combination of “Autumn
Leaves” and “All the Things You Are” and
finally, “Bumble Bee”.
In conjunction with the 150th anniversary, the 184-page “Steinway & Sons
Magazine 2004” (issued in May 2004) featured
some of the Steinway artists and gave Roger a 4-page
spread. It was put together by Laura Spirals and
includes several photos along with an interview in
question-and-answer format in which he discusses
several aspects of his career: the discipline he
uses in his every day life as well as with his music,
how he got started doing his annual marathons at
the presidential libraries, and how his love of music
has deepened over the last 77 years. (He started
playing the piano at age 3.)
On May 22, 2004 Roger was honored by California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by being presented
with the Champion of Youth Award as part of “Arnold’s
All-Stars” celebration held at the Griffith
Middle School in East Los Angeles. With Roger’s
deep interest in securing a place for music and music
education in all schools, he was especially proud
to receive this award.
“Arnold’s All-Stars” (AAS) - part
of Schwarzenegger’s Youth Foundation - was
officially launched in May 2002. It currently has
4 participating schools in LA’s inner city
with 1000 students attending the programs on a daily
basis. AAS provides LA middle school students with
positive academic, recreational and cultural opportunities,
and seeks to reduce the influence of gangs, drugs
and alcohol on these inner-city students between
the 6th and 8th grades.
Other Note-able “Key Notes”:
On November 8, 2003 Jacque Heebner presented Roger
with the George Washington Award from the Freedom
Foundation. On February 15, 2004, Roger played
to a sold-out house at the DAR Constitution Hall
in Washington, D.C. where he was designated an “Honorary
General” by the Armed Forces.
Amazon.com is now offering Roger’s combined
TILL/NEAR YOU albums on a CD at a 21% discount. These
albums were at the top of the charts in 1958 and
1959 respectively. It’s great to see them available
now on a CD.
There are several other CDs by Roger that are available
at discount prices at Amazon.com, so be sure to check
them out, respond with your comments and recommendations.
Hope
you enjoyed this issue of KEY NOTES. I'm looking forward
to passing along further news on Roger in 2005.
------ Pauline Vang
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