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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Edna
4Williams, who passed away on December 31, 2012; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Edna Williams was a native of Chicago and attended
6Chicago public schools; while in elementary school, she began
7her vocal studies with the distinguished vocal teacher, Stella
8Sanger, at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, and piano with
9Anna Maitland and Ida B. Davis; after graduating from Parker
10High School, she furthered her studies by enrolling for 2 years
11at the former Wilson Junior College (now Kennedy-King College),
12where she served as President of the Music Club, and one year
13at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where she
14studied voice with professor LeRoy Hamp; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In 1954, Edna Williams enrolled at the Chicago
16Musical College of Roosevelt University, studying piano with
17Dr. Felix Ganz and voice with the eminent Dr. Harvey Rignel;
18she subsequently earned her bachelor's degree in music in 1957
19and her master's degree in music in 1959; while attending
20Roosevelt, she was the recipient of the Sue Cowan Hintz Voice
21Award, the Oliver Ditson Voice Scholarship, and the coveted
22John Hay Whitney Fellowship, which afforded her 15 months of
23study in Vienna, Austria, with such fine teachers as Baron Hans

 

 

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1Karg-Bebenburg and Professor Erik Werba; while in Austria, she
2was presented in 2 recitals and was critically acclaimed; upon
3her return to the United States in 1960, she toured Illinois,
4Indiana, and Ohio in recital and sang many times on Chicago
5radio and television; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In 1965, Edna Williams joined the faculty of
7Northern Illinois University, where she retired in 1994 as a
8Professor of Music; she also presented faculty recitals,
9appeared as a soloist with the choral ensembles and the NIU
10Philharmonic, and sang at many of the leading churches of all
11denominations in the community; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Edna Williams was a former professional member of
13the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus and appeared on several
14occasions as a soprano soloist with the Chicago Chamber
15Orchestra; for over 20 years, she was the soprano soloist in
16the annual presentation of Handel's "Messiah"; in 1977, she
17appeared a guest soloist with the Symphony Orchestra of
18Stavanger, Norway, performing repertoire in Norwegian and
19English; in 1983, she was presented in concert in the Martin
20Luther King, Jr. Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College in
21Atlanta, Georgia; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Edna Williams was a member of the National
23Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., where she served as a

 

 

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1board member, chairperson of the Artists Directory, and
2national and regional scholarship chairperson; she also served
3as second vice-president and scholarship chairperson of the
4Chicago Music Association; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Edna Williams was a life-long member of Monumental
6Baptist Church and was appointed to serve as the church's
7Minister of Music in 1992; she also served on the Monumental
8Credit Union Scholarship Committee and served as the
9organization's treasurer and first president; and
 
10    WHEREAS, In 1989, Edna Williams was the recipient of an
11honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the Chicago Baptist
12Institute in recognition of her achievements and contributions
13to the Christian ministry; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of
17Edna Williams; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19presented to the family of Edna Williams as an expression of
20our sympathy.