Contact: Crystal Drake, Office of Strategic Communications
In many ways, the Marching Crimson Pipers and Dr. Warren L. Williams were destined to hit high notes together. His connection to Mother Tuskegee runs deep, starting as a youngster, when he and his brother attended Boy Scout camping trips to Moton Field.
“Tuskegee was the first HBCU campus I ever stepped foot on as a child,” said Dr. Williams, whose father retired to Columbus, Georgia after a U.S. Army military career. He encouraged his sons to complete Scouting all the way to Eagle Scout ranks. The connection deepened in fifth grade. His teacher’s son was the trumpet section leader in the Tuskegee band.
“My parents allowed us to come to games with her because they knew we loved music,” he said noting that both his parents and all of their siblings were musically gifted (his brother is a Grammy-winning professional musician who has toured with Usher, Ne-Yo, and PJ Morton and is currently on a world tour with Doja Cat.) “Seeing the Marching Crimson Pipers changed my life and I knew I wanted to become a band student, specifically to play the trumpet because the Tuskegee trumpet section was off the chain – I clearly remember the famous kick off song ‘Git It All’ that the band still plays today!”
Dr. Williams did join his school band the following year, as a trumpet player, and has been a musician and musical educator ever since, including his role as the Minister of Music at Gaines Chapel A.M.E. Church in Phenix City, Alabama.
The accomplished music education leader who has led students to national performances, recently joined Tuskegee as the new Director of Bands. Dr. Williams previously served as the Director of Bands at Carver Early College in Atlanta. There, he established the school’s first music program, including the 80-member Mighty Marching Panther Band. Dr. Williams received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Alabama State University and his doctorate in music education from Liberty University.
“I love, love, love these students,” Dr. Williams said, smiling at how quickly he felt embraced by the Marching Crimson Pipers. “They have so much personality and are so smart and talented. And they are open-minded.”
Dr. Williams shared an example of watching those open minds work as students pushed through a daunting piece of music he selected to test sight-reading skills for the symphonic band.
“Variations on a Korean Folk Song is difficult,” he said. “I wanted to use it to see what they would do with it, without any practice, and it showed me a lot about not only their skills but what they do when they are challenged. I enjoyed watching their brains work.”
The song will be a part of the band’s repertoire at the annual William L. Dawson Choral Festival in March, adding more world music to the event in alignment with Tuskegee’s ever-expanding global footprint.
Dr. Williams is excited to be here at this moment in time, during Tuskegee’s Renaissance Era, and will add his strategic leadership to increasing what Tuskegee has to offer students to equip them with workforce-ready skills they will need for careers in music – namely expanded curriculum in music education, so that students can go on to become band directors themselves.
“Dr. Williams has taken the bull by the horns and is someone who loves young people, wants to see them grow, and has what it takes to help them develop and succeed,” said Reginald Ruffin, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Athletic Director.
He works closely with Dr. Williams as all bands and other auxiliary teams are under Ruffin’s leadership along with sports teams.
For Ruffin, there is no daylight between the athletic teams and the bands, especially because Tuskegee President and CEO Dr. Mark A. Brown made it clear that by bringing the bands directly into TU Athletics, they have his full support to ensure all student-athletes have the resources they need. Dr. Brown happens to be a former Marching Crimson Piper.
“It’s a partnership. We are brothers and sisters, we are a family,” Ruffin said. “The band is ready to handle business at half-time and our teams are ready to handle business on the field. We feed off of each other when we are in game mode. Everybody’s in rare form because we are here to win.”
Dr. Williams agrees that the student-athlete work ethic is the symbiotic special sauce for this team. “Discipline, hard work, precision, practice makes perfect – band members and athletes are doing this together.”
Ruffin has been instrumental in elevating that sense of unity and recently led efforts to complete the $150,000 purchase of several new band uniforms ahead of summer and fall engagements.
“We looked at the uniforms and knew we had to go bigger and better – we will always find a way, or make a way,” Ruffin said. “Dr. Brown challenges us to ‘get after it until you apprehend it’ and that’s what we did through teamwork with the Division of Development and Alumni Engagement to ensure the Marching Crimson Pipers are ready to rock in style.”
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