Chris Williams

He studied Classical Trumpet at the Queensland Conservatorium of music and also earned a Masters degree in Classical Trumpet Performance at the Royal College of Music in London.

Chris was principal trumpet with the Australian Youth Orchestra for two years and has appeared as guest principal trumpet with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Queensland Pops Orchestra. He was nominated for the Australian Freedman Fellowship Award for Jazz and for the Australian Young Achiever Award twice.

Currently artist in residence with the Southern Cross Soloists, Chris is regarded as one of Australia’s leading Didgeridoo soloists. As a Didgeridoo soloist Chris has performed in various countries including Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Australia, Ireland, France, Austria, The UK, Italy, The Holy See, South Africa and Israel.

Solo Didgeridoo performance highlights include, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Vatican.

From 2022, in partnership with the Southern Cross Soloists, Chris has embarked on an ambitious project to collaborate with established composers to commission 3 new works for didgeridoo and classical ensemble every year for the next 10 years. The “Didgeridoo Commissioning Project” builds on previous new work commissions for Chris and SXS by Joseph Twist (nominated for APRA AMCOS Award) John Rotar, and Sean O’Boyle.