Dr. Jessica Williams serves as Instructor of Percussion for the Department of Music at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, where she teaches applied percussion, percussion methods, percussion ensemble and aural skills. Dr. Williams completed a Doctorate in Percussion Performance with a cognate in Wind Conducting at the University of Memphis. Her dissertation focused on the steel pan music of Andy Akiho with an emphasis on his Synesthesia Suite, his experience with synesthesia and the historical significance of the steel pan. She received her Master of Music Performance from the University of Florida and her Bachelor of Music Education and a Bachelor of Music Performance from Alabama State University.

Dr. Williams has performed with the Grammy award-winning quartet, Third Coast Percussion in a production of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit at the Fayetteville Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She has performed with the Prizm Chamber Orchestra in Memphis, TN, the Contemporary Chamber Players, the University of Memphis Wind Ensemble, the University of Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Memphis Percussion Ensemble. She has also performed as a percussionist for the Little Mermaid and Newsies at the Desoto Family Theatre in Southaven, Mississippi. She collaborated with Dr. William Shaltis, Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Memphis, to have a performance of Inuksuit on April 22, 2018 at Shelby Farms in Memphis, TN. She also currently performs with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra in Montgomery, Alabama.  Dr. Williams is sponsored by Sabian Cymbals and TAMA | BERGERAULT Percussion.