NIA WILLIAMS
Welcome to my website!
I'm a freelance musician and writer based in Oxford, UK.
NEWS & REVIEWS 2025—2026
We had such a great time performing my musical EVANGELINE on our summer mini-tour. After a sell-out run at the Burton-Taylor Studio in Oxford it was on to Brighton's Lantern Theatre as part of the Brighton Fringe, where we were delighted to win a bronze Fringe Theatre Award. 🏆 At the height of the heatwave we (and our audiences) really appreciated the air conditioning both at The Glitch in London and in the final venue, The Phoenix Theatre in beautiful Ross-on-Wye. Guy Brigg was wonderful as Evangeline and everyone else, and we had lovely reactions from reviewers and audiences (see the Three Chairs and a Hat page for some snippets).
In 2027 EVANGELINE heads north for a week at the Edinburgh Fringe—full details to follow!
Apart from bringing Evangeline's rollercoaster story to page and stage, recent highlights for my tiny theatre company THREE CHAIRS & A HAT include:
🎭 semi-final places for our animated musicals LADY M and PETER — Trouble, in the GLASGOW FILM AWARDS
🎭 a semi-final for PETER — Trouble, in the MELBOURNE INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL
🎭 another semi-final for PETER — Foundations, in the EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL …
🎭 aaand another semi-final for the newly released full-length animation of PETER at the BRUSSELS WORLD FILM FESTIVAL
All animations are available to watch on YouTube and Scenesaver)
Work is now underway on a brand new animated musical, Austericity, about a normal man who finds his world upended by a plastic pig …
Images for MRS PACK and EVANGELINE (above) by Hannah Veale Photography and Libby Holcroft of Designerating.
In Other News …
Aside from Three Chairs & A Hat, I've been working in rehearsals, performances, workshops and events.
Workshops
Magic happens every Monday at the Dance for Parkinson's and Dance for Joy workshops I co-lead for MuMo Creative and English National Ballet. After a busy summer term working on Crystal Pite’s contemporary piece Body & Soul, and the iconic musical Cabaret, we go into a new term exploring Prokofiev's stunning Rome & Juliet ballet score and music with a French theme.
MuMo is also staging public workshops at the major Oxford museums, inspired by their collections and exhibitions. This year our participants filmed a video among the wonders of the Natural History Museum to my song Dance of Life, and we delivered a session in September based on the Weston Library's exhibition Wonder of Birds. There are many more exciting projects ahead, including a collaborative workshop/talk on Cinderella, and a family workshop based on the brilliant music of Leonard Bernstein. For more details, see MuMo's website.
I'll also be joining the Youth Theatre team at Oxford Opera Company for a workshop on Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, which will be staged at The Oxford Playhouse in October.
Accompanying/MDing
My work as a pianist and occasional MD involves a variety of styles and events.
Engagements during the hot summer of 2026 have included productions of Mozart's operas Cosí Fan Tutte and The Magic Flute for Opera Anywhere — culminating in a very magical 'Flute' at beautiful Thorington amphitheatre, with two artists on stage painting canvases inspired by the action. Coming up for autumn/winter will be a recital of art songs by Britten, Mahler, Puccini, Haydn and others; rehearsals of Gershwin's Crazy For You for Musical Youth Company Oxford; a Christmas concert of opera, musical theatre and of course festive music; and Prokofiev's sublime ballet score Romeo & Juliet for ENB's workshops. And there are already plans simmering for a concert performance of some of Lloyd Webber's much-loved music. 😍🎹