Visual designer Willie Williams, best known for his many years working with U2, joins the faculty of the Concert Master Classes, to be held in December at USC, in addition to other recently announced new faculty members, Yves Aucoin, Steve Cohen, David "Gurn" Kaniski, Jim Lenahan, Arnold Serame, and Tim LaValley.
Williams will specifically discuss the U2 360° Tour: Before, During, & After (check out the full Q+A with Williams from the September issue here). The tour was a five-year project for Williams, and he will outline how it was the culmination of his 30 year collaboration with the band, how a seemingly impossible design was realized, and what on earth comes next.
Williams' work has ranged from designing full visual environments for massive tours for U2, R.E.M., David Bowie, and George Michael, as well as more intimate designs for Kronos Quartet.
Theatre projects have included lighting and video scenery for the Little Britain Live tour, and also Pam Ann at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. He designed the lighting and video content for the musical We Will Rock You playing at theatres in seven countries worldwide and also for Barbarella at the Raimund Theatre, Vienna.
Williams has also delved into comedy recently--designing it, that is--with shows for Female duo French & Saunders and comedian Steve Coogan (Still Alive and Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters, respectively). A new venture started last year, The Third Company, with business partner and video content producer Sam Pattinson, has brought about projects for The Cartoon Network and more.
TIME magazine profiled Williams' work in September 2006 and New York’s Metropolitan Home magazine featured him in its “Design 100” issue in May 2006. He has been honored by his peers several times, such as when the George Michael stage was included in the Creative Review annual in Spring 2007 and awarded “Best in Book.” In 2001, he received an EDDY award from Entertainment Design magazine for excellence in entertainment design. Wired Magazine ranked him as one of the “Top 25 Visionaries in Entertainment” in 2000.
For additional information and to register for the classes, visit our Concert Master Classes page.