Carol Anne Williams D.M.A., ARAM, Dip RAM, AD (Yale), FRCO, FTCL, ARCM, San Diego Civic Organist Emerita



Ambition:

To introduce the classical organ to new audiences, inspiring joy and uplifting spirits through captivating performances.

Education:

Born in Britain and raised in a musical Welsh family, Carol was a child prodigy, reading music before English. Starting organ at age five, she performed recitals across the UK by eight. She trained for five years at the Royal Academy of Music under David Sanger, earning a Recital Diploma, LRAMs in organ and piano, and studying harpsichord with Virginia Black. She swept all major organ performance prizes and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), Fellow of Trinity College London (FTCL), and Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM). Carol studied with Daniel Roth in Paris, earned an Artist Diploma and Charles Ives Prize at Yale under Thomas Murray, and completed her D.M.A. at Manhattan School of Music with McNeil Robinson in 2001, receiving the Helen Cohn Award.

Professional History:

Now based in England with her husband, Carol served as Artistic Director of the Spreckels International Organ Concert Series (2001–2017), North America’s largest, and made history as the world’s first female Civic Organist, earning the title San Diego Civic Organist Emerita. A global performer, she has played in the US, UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Monaco, Luxembourg, Holland, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Singapore, South Korea, China, and Russia. Renowned for classical organ mastery, she also collaborates with orchestras like the BBC Concert Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Beijing Symphony, as well as jazz, blues, pop, and rock artists. More