About
Praised by the New York Times for her “stunning” playing, Adé Williams is a renowned, award-winning concert violinist known for her vibrance and special connection to audiences. A 2023 Stradivari Society recipient, she is a highly sought-after soloist and collaborator in the US and abroad.
At age six, Adé made her solo debut with the Chicago Sinfonietta, which launched a thrilling career of performances with the world’s finest orchestras, including the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras; the Detroit, Pittsburgh, New World, Indianapolis, Hartford, and Nashville Symphonies; and the Buffalo and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) Philharmonics. By age 17 she had won 17 competitions, and by 18 she had she had already appeared as a soloist with over 50 orchestras and debuted at the White House, Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall — where she has since returned five times.
Adé continues to frequent the world’s best concert halls, including Symphony Center in Chicago, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Merkin Hall in New York, and Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Highlights of her 2025/26 season include solo debuts with the Illinois Philharmonic and Olympia Symphony, appearances alongside Joshua Bell, Vadim Gluzman, and other acclaimed artists for the Stradivari Society’s 40th Anniversary concert, and her recital debut on the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts Series.
While concerto performances are at the heart of her career, Adé is also a passionate chamber musician who performs with ensembles of all forms. She has collaborated with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Sphinx Virtuosi. Most recently, she was invited to appear as guest concertmaster with the Parlando Chamber Orchestra for both their season-opening concert and their second commercial recording, featuring Strauss’ Metamorphosen. Adé enjoys working with living composers and presenting new works. In 2017, she premiered Guardian of the Horizon: Concerto Grosso for Violin, Cello, and Strings by Jimmy Lopez, a work commissioned by Carnegie Hall and New World Symphony. The New York Concert Review praised her as “an absolute winning champion of the work.”
Adé participates in a wide range of special projects like Rachel Barton Pine’s Music by Black Composers project as a recording artist; the Milken Institute’s “Why Wait? Young People Blazing Trails” program as a panelist; and the University of Michigan as a guest lecturer. In 2012, she produced her first Adé & Friends benefit concert in support of a new school on Chicago’s south side where she was born and raised.
Between concerts, Adé continues her work with young students in schools across the US and her blossoming private studio. Her students have been accepted into some of the best schools, including the New England Conservatory in Boston. At age 24, she gave her first collegiate masterclass at University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music and continues to give masterclasses around the country.
Adé is a Chicago native and began playing violin at age three. She has studied with Rachel Barton Pine, Marko Dreher, and Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago. She graduated with honors from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Ida Kavafian and served as concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in the 2018-2019 season. Adé is grateful to be performing on the outstanding “Dancla” G.B. Rogeri violin, from Brescia, circa 1700, on extended loan through the generosity and efforts of the Stradivari Society.