Postgraduate Huw Williams is studying Orchestral Conducting as part of his professional development as a Director of Music in the Royal Marines Band Service. We caught up with him to hear about the road that brought him to Cardiff, and how he’s enjoying civilian – and student – life.
You’ve not come through the usual ‘student route’ to the College. Tell us a bit about your background.
“All conductors in the Royal Marines are promoted from the ranks and trained in-house to Licentiate level. On further promotion you are sent to music college for two years, which as you can probably imagine is a goal that a lot of us aimed for!
I joined the RM as a cornet player in 1993, a few days after my 17th birthday. After initial military training I studied at the RM School of Music, then in Deal, Kent, where rigorous, old-fashioned musical training was delivered in a rigorous, old-fashioned way.
Following training I joined the band in Plymouth and embarked on a fairly non-stop sight-seeing tour of the world. We flew a lot, of course, but the best and most memorable trips were by sea, including a seven-month passage to Australia on-board HMS Illustrious, stopping at various ports in the Med, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Oman before India, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Hong-Kong for the ceremonial end of British rule there.
It was an exciting time and the job was a good fit for me. I quickly gained promotion, studied for my degree and began thinking about a career. A variety of roles followed and gradually conducting became a bigger part of my work than playing. In 2010 I was commissioned and began applying to music colleges to study for a Masters’ degree.
How have you adjusted to being a student?
Studying at Royal Welsh College has been an amazing time for me. For the first time ever I can dedicate my time to studying, rather than trying to fit it in around my work, a privilege that few people get. The other students have been really welcoming and friendly and are really focussed and committed musicians. I’ve had a great time working with the strings in particular, and getting involved with the composers, mostly through the student-led arts organisation Sinfonia Newydd.
I am sometimes asked if I feel like a fish out of water, or if it’s strange to be studying with much younger people. A couple of weeks ago I went back to the band in Portsmouth to conduct in a concert and briefly felt aware of the stark contrast between the two parts of my life. By and large though, I don’t feel that out of place! Musicians of all types have more similarities than differences I think, and it didn’t take long before I started to feel like a regular student!
Main image by Alex Vann: Huw Williams conducts Sinfonia Newydd at Artes Mundi Exhibition, National Museum Cardiff
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