Education
MM Northwestern University
BM Indiana University
Classes Taught
Student Teacher Observation
About
Glenn Williams retired in May of 2021 from Downers Grove South High School, having served as a music teacher and the Fine Arts Department Chair since 2005. In addition to teaching and holding arts administration leadership roles at Highland Park High School (IL) and in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mr. Williams also was on the brass/jazz faculty of the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic, and was a member of the jazz faculty and co-coordinator of the Jazz Division at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan, leading the International Jazz Ensemble on European Tours in 2014 and 2017. Mr. Williams holds degrees from Indiana University, Northwestern University and Concordia University. Mr. Williams has completed coursework towards a DMA in Wind Conducting at Michigan State University. From 2009-2019, Mr. Williams held a National Board Teaching Certification.
Mr. Williams is currently supervising student teachers for DePaul University School of Music and the University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana. Mr. Williams traveled to Cuba in January of 2024 as a Teaching Artist with the Cuban American Youth Orchestra (CAYO) working with student and adult musicians in Havana and Matanzas. Covering a sabbatical leave, Mr. Williams conducted the Wind Symphony at Northern Illinois University during the spring semester of 2025.
As a professional performer, Mr. Williams has performed with numerous entertainment and jazz luminaries, including The Four Tops, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Michael Brecker, Kenny Wheeler, and the Blue Lake Faculty Jazz Sextet. Mr. Williams has also performed with numerous community ensembles including the North Shore Concert Band directed by John Paynter. In the summer of 1984, Mr. Williams was a member of the Walt Disney World All-American College Marching Band.
Mr. Williams has conducted numerous band and jazz honor ensembles, including the Illinois All-State Jazz Ensemble (2014) and the North Carolina All-State HS Jazz Ensemble (2022). Mr. Williams helped initiate the BRIDGE program, an ILMEA professional development strand equipping first year music teachers in Illinois. Mr. Williams received the Mary Hoffman Award of Excellence from ILMEA in 2017. Mr. Williams led the process to commission Tricycle by Andrew Boysen to celebrate the consolidation of North Shore District 112. In 2025, Mr. Williams received the Paynter Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by Quinlan and Fabish Music.
Mr. Williams expresses deep gratitude to all the teachers, students, colleagues and friends who continually inform his identity as a human, as an artist, and as an educator.