IN Peters Township August/September 2017 | Page 44

Taking the
Arts by
Storm
BY NICOLE TAFE
PT alum Val Williams wears multiple hats in the arts as she sings,
dances, acts, teaches, designs and creates.
P
eters Township’s Val Williams is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes
to the arts.
Williams, a 2002 PT grad, has traveled the world singing, acting
and dancing to the beat of her own drum in many different artistic
roles. In her recent return to Pittsburgh, she’s working to bring all of her
projects and more to her hometown.
“Pittsburgh is incredibly special to me,” says Williams. I’ve traveled
the world performing, yet I would always end up finding a ‘Pittsburgh
Bar’ or someone who was from here or had a connection to someone
from here. It’s just that kind of city and I love that. I especially love how
much of a renaissance it is having in the arts, technology, healthcare and
other fields. After 10 years in NYC I thought Pittsburgh might feel a
little too small, but it has an amazing balance of new innovation and ‘old-
fashioned’ awesome that can’t be manufactured.”
While attending Peters Township School District, Williams was
involved both in school and extracurricular activities. She participated
in orchestra, choir, theater, dance, softball, basketball and Odyssey of
42 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Peters Township
the Mind, and cantored at St. Benedict the Abbot Church. Outside of
school, Williams performed regularly with Pittsburgh Musical Theater
(PMT) and was a member of the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus, South Hills
Jr. Orchestra in addition to a handful of other ensembles, giving her the
honor to sing with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Marvin Hamlisch. “I
am very blessed to have had parents who moved mountains to help me
study the arts, and I am grateful to them every day for that,” she notes.
The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus—then called Children’s Festival
Chorus—was a huge part of Williams’ musical journey and where she
began her singing career, working with Christine Jordanoff, Jane Panzella
and Elaine Goldsmith. “The training they provided was unparalleled and
comparable to what I got at a conservatory,” says Williams. “Not only
was the level at which they taught amazing, but they could do it with
children so young!”
At PTHS, Ryan Perrotte and Donna Fox helped Williams find her
way as a creative person, as they were simultaneously uplifting and
understanding of the work she was doing outside of regular school
INPERSON