Pearl Williams-Jones

Pearl Williams-Jones (née Williams) (June 28, 1931 – February 4, 1991) was an American gospel musician.

A native of Washington, D.C., Williams was the daughter of Smallwood Edmond Williams, pastor of the Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ.[1] She attended public schools in the District, graduating from Charles Young Elementary, Brown Junior High School and Dunbar High School.[2] She studied piano with Hazel Harrison and Natalie Hinderas while attending Howard University, from which she received both a bachelor's degree and a master's of music,[1] and from which she graduated magna cum laude.[3] She served as minister of music at her father's church and performed as a singer and pianist throughout the United States and Europe,[1] appearing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall in London and the Suphiensalle in Munich.[4] A well-regarded scholar of gospel music, she spent decades as a professor of music at the University of the District of Columbia, where she developed the first degree program in the United States dedicated to the study and performance of gospel.[1] She taught jazz history and music appreciation as well, and directed the university's gospel choir.[3] She served as a technical advisory on the film Say Amen, Somebody.[5] For two decades she consulted with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and worked as an administrative staff member of its African Diaspora Advisory Group.[1] Williams-Jones published a number of works, including a study of the work of Roberta Martin written with Bernice Johnson Reagon.[1] As a composer she was especially known for her performance of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" to the accompaniment of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".[6][7][8]

Williams-Jones received an honorary degree from Lynchburg College in 1972.[1] She died in 1991 after an 18-month battle with cancer.[3] She was married to Williams V. Jones, MD, with whom she had two children, Yvonne and Virgil Jr.[2]

References
  1. The Grove Dictionary of American Music. OUP USA. January 2013. ISBN 978-0-19-531428-1.
  2. "Washington, DC Ready to Honor DR. PEARL WILLIAMS JONES". 7 February 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. Harris, H. R. (9 February 1991). "GOSPEL COMMUNITY LOSES A PIVOTAL VOICE". Retrieved 13 November 2016 – via washingtonpost.com.
  4. "Pearl Williams Jones's Biography — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at". Last.fm. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  5. "Filmography for Pearl Williams-Jones". Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  6. Horace Clarence Boyer (1995). The Golden Age of Gospel. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06877-5.
  7. Bernice Johnson Reagon (2001). If You Don't Go, Don't Hinder Me: The African American Sacred Song Tradition. U of Nebraska Press. p. 30. ISBN 0-8032-8983-9.
  8. "African American Heritage Hymnal 453. Jesus, lover of my soul - Hymnary.org". Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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