If you’ve paid attention to the LDS artists that have come out of Utah, you might have noticed some of the work of the talented Richard Williams who has had his music recorded at Capitol Studios, Budapest, Prague, and Fox Studios in LA. He is also a part of the cinematic pop band, TREN, that wrote the hit song “Live or Survive,” intending it to be the end credits song for the Hunger Games. While a student at BYU, he won the College TV Awards (Student Emmys) two separate years for his film scores to the BYU animations. He has written music for internet shorts, and video game companies such as Tencent. Richard has a long list of compositions across a wide spectrum of genres.
But it hasn’t come so easily. Richard has been working at it for the last 15 years, staying up late, and hustling wherever he can to make it in the industry. Whether that is traveling to LA, San Francisco, Budapest, or Prague, Richard has invested so much time and money to make this career a reality.
In the gospel, we often are taught about the concept of enduring to the end. He has never been a stranger to the concept of endurance. Simply put, Richard’s honest desire with music has been to be able to create uplifting, inspiring, or beautiful music to as many as he can. “Latter-day Saints are a great audience,” he says, “because we inherently have great material to be writing about.” Not all of his projects are able to be inspirationally themed, but the projects Richard loves the most are the ones where you “feel” something. Where you’re uplifted in some way whether that’s by energy or personal emotion.
His latest project is asking for the support of anyone who would like to support him through Kickstarter, as he will record with top talent in Los Angeles and Budapest for a Christmas big band jazz / orchestral album. It will feature his 13 arrangements of some of the most famous and beloved Christmas songs as well as 10 talented singers from around the world. The style of the album will be along the lines of many other talented artists such as Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and The Carpenters.
His Kickstarter runs from now until March 17th, and thanks to the generosity of many friends has been 52% funded but will need more help from the larger community. Please consider helping Richard fund and complete his latest project to bring his beautiful album to life!
Aleah is a graduate of Southern Virginia University, where she studied English, Creative Writing, and Dance. She now works full time as a marketing and product manager, writer, and editor. She currently hosts the podcast “Single to the Glory” about singlehood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Aleah served a mission in California and loves baking, Lang Leav poetry, Gaynor Minden pointe shoes, and Bollywood movies.
