Our Directors
James Williams
Interim Director, Northwest Sound
James is an avid musician, getting started with piano, trumpet, and singing as a child. He never saw a reason to stop, receiving scholarships to play trumpet in the BYU marching band, singing with choruses and quartets across the Evergreen District, and accompanying congregational singing on the piano and organ at church. Somewhere along the line he got a decidedly un-musical degree in Computer Science but wasted no time in seeking out Northwest Sound when work brought him to the neighborhood. Joining the men’s chorus in 2013, James has since sung every part, been a section leader for 3 of them, helped with script writing and lighting design for our shows, directed choruses, and even gave a cameo trumpet performance on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. When he’s not making music somewhere, you’re likely to find him playing with his five kids, roasting marshmallows at their backyard campfire, … probably still singing tags…
Dan Meyer
Interim Director, Northwest Mix
Like James, it seems music has always been a part of Dan's life. He started taking piano lessons from his mother, added trombone in fourth grade, and then tuba as a junior in high school. In 1986, while working in Pasadena, CA as a software engineer, one of his co-workers invited him to visit a chapter meeting of the San Gabriel Valley chapter, SPEBSQSA - and he was hooked. His high school band teacher had taught the seniors how to "wave their hands"; this led Dan to being an interim and assistant director of several barbershop and a cappella choruses. On several occasions Dan attended Directors College at Harmony University which led to his becoming the musical director of the Chorus of the Brandywine in Wilmington, DE. For years Dan sang baritone in choruses and quartets but a voice teacher insisted he was a "second tenor" and he switched to lead when he joined Northwest Sound in 2014 when he moved to the Pacific Northwest. While he may be retired from his career as a software engineer, music has become a full-time "job"; you'll find him singing lead in Vocal Vintage and bass in In The Mix.