Dr. Brandon Williams, Director of the Voorhees Choir, Receives Prestigious Award

Dr. Brandon Williams, director of the Voorhees choir, has received The Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovations. The award is given to a member of the faculty for displaying an outstanding and innovative approach to instruction. 

“While recognition was not the goal, I was humbled and grateful beyond belief,” Dr. Williams said of the award.

In part, Dr. Williams was honored for utilizing virtual recordings and online presentations with the Voorhees Choir, a course and student organization that performs compositions by women composers and poets. The group has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Eastern American Choral Directors Association Conference, and many of Douglass’ most well-known events such as the annual Yule Log ceremony. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Williams continued the group’s artistic excellence through innovative online approaches, which offered students a way to remain connected in quarantine while continuing to develop as musicians and performers.

Dr. Williams is also an assistant professor in the music department where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education. In addition to being a published composer and a professor, he is a member of the inaugural cohort of 2021-2022 Early Career Faculty Fellows at the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice. He is the editor of the upcoming book Choral Perspectives.

Dr. Williams notes that the group’s accomplishments during remote instruction would not have been possible without the members of the Rutgers Voorhees Choir, graduate assistant Stephanie Tubiolo, and collaborative pianist Justine Langman.

Douglass congratulates Dr. Williams on this prestigious recognition and thanks him for all he does for the College!