Chrystal E. William’s Biggest Talent May Be Giving To Others
Mezzo-Soprano Chrystal E. Williams. Photo credit: Vanessa Briceno
This season, Chrystal E. Williams made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, appears with Minnesota Opera, Seattle Symphony, and Orchestra 2001, and will launch “Forrópera”, which she co-created with duo partner, Brazilian accordionist Felipe Hostins, combining elements of classical music with Brazilian folk music.
We caught up with Chrystal to learn more about her childhood, the projects she’s working on now, her inspirations, and how she disciplines herself as an artist.
Chrystal says that her mother, Nannie Adele Morrison Williams, played a critical role in shaping the direction of her life. “She always said we were too rich to be poor and too poor to be rich,” Chrystal shared. “Yet, she was the first one to offer aid to people she knew as well as those she didn’t. That is actually how I came to be an artist — out of my desire to help others.”
One way Chrystal uses her artistry to help others is through the Chrystal E. Williams Scholarship. She founded it in 2004 as a way to help students wishing to pursue a career in the performing arts, which came about at her mother’s insistence. During her senior year, Chrystal’s family didn’t have money to pay for numerous applications, let alone auditions and trips. So Nannie suggested that Chrystal hold a concert to help raise funds for her education, and return each year to help someone else.
That idea blossomed into the scholarship that has now touched the lives of many young artists, but Chrystal isn’t satisfied yet. Her goal is to see the scholarship reach budding performing artists across the globe. It turns out that being an overachiever runs in the family.
“My father always said to do it well or not at all. I literally apply this to every performance, every note I sing, every time I walk on to the stage. And everything I do in life.” Her life, both personal and professional, is based largely off of her father’s advice and one simple principle: discipline.
“It’s all about discipline,” she says. “As an artist, we are fortunate to be able to make our own schedules most of the time. There are weeks I may have ‘off’, and then periods where I don’t have a break for six months to a year. In the meantime, there is music to prepare, functions to attend, master classes to give. Time management is key to making sure you are always prepared and do not overwhelm yourself!”
Chrystal will need to flex those time management skills as she focuses on her upcoming projects — her plate is full with some phenomenal opportunities over the next few months. She is currently finishing up her Metropolitan Opera debut as Maketaten in Akhnaten. Next up, she will transform into a Stewardess in Flight with Minnesota Opera and Rebecca Parker in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with Seattle Opera. But Chrystal says the project she’s most excited about (aside from the Chrystal E. Williams Scholarship) is her “lavoura of love,” the Forrópera.
As its name would suggest (Forró means “for all” and Opera means “work of art”), Forrópera aims to share works of art for all. In collaboration with Brazilian accordionist Felipe Hostins, Chrystal created the genre as a way to foster unity, understanding, and peace through music. It combines elements of classical music and that of traditional Brazilian folk music, with the primary instruments being voice and accordion. They hope to diversify audiences by bringing both styles of music, traditional Brazilian folk and classical, to a wider community of music lovers and appreciators. Chrystal’s vision for Forrópera: creating music that is inviting and welcoming, further heightening the excitement and thrill that is music and live performance.
“Music, in general, has become too divided,” Chrystal says. “Only certain types of people attend the opera. And only another type of people attend a folk concert. And yet again, only a certain type of people attend a jazz concert, pop concert, etc. But music is supposed to unite people and speak a universal language. One way that I have found to combat this is through Forrópera.”
While Chrystal is busy performing all over the country and creating new genres of music that bring people together, she’s also busy dishing out motivational quotes and inspiration that artists — and young girls everywhere — should clamour to hear. When we asked Chrystal what she might change about her career, her answer was powerful.
“I am who I am because of everything that has happened in my life, and I am grateful for every single moment. I wouldn’t risk becoming someone else for anything in the world. My aim is to be a better person and changing events or things in my life is not how to do that.”
And becoming a better person, she is. Chrystal’s hopes for the future are full of fun things (Babies! A La Scala debut! Vacation in Iceland! World tours!), they're also consistently “on-brand” for the kind-hearted woman deemed “fiery and gorgeous” by the Opera Times.
In 10 years, Chrystal says, “I would love to have grown the Chrystal E. Williams Scholarship to be able to help other budding artists, including an audition and application prep workshop. And the one thing I’d want people to remember about my artistry is that it was always meant to help; in whatever way needed. That it was created by, and to, love.”
