Derek Williams (musician)

Derek Leslie Williams (born 20 September 1952) is a New Zealand-born Scottish composer, record producer, conductor, and orchestrator known for his scores for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Bodysurfer, Children of the Dragon, Come in Spinner, The Crossing, Crush, Frauds, The Other Side of Paradise, Ring of Scorpio, Seven Deadly Sins, Thank God He Met Lizzie, Visionaries, and for Frank Bennett, Stella Cole, Glenfiddich, Sir Robert Helpmann, Grace Knight, Debbie Newsome, Caroline O’Connor, Mikkel Rønnow and Torvill and Dean. He is currently serving his 9th term as Chair of the Wagner Society of Scotland, a member of the International Association of Wagner Societies (RWVI) and at the 2024 Assembly of Delegates at Deutsche Oper Berlin, he was elected to serve a 5-year term as board member of the RWVI Presidium. Williams was awarded a doctorate by the University of Edinburgh under Nigel Osborne and Peter Nelson for composition of his eponymous opera Wilde. He is a Fellow of Trinity College London, and an Honorary Member of the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia. Williams is a civil rights activist known for his ‘Save Sibelius’ campaign in the United Kingdom (2012–2013)