When Donovan Williams was two years old, his family was shocked when he took a bow to his father’s cello and rubbed it across the strings, generating a tone well beyond his years. As soon as he could support the weight under his chin, his grandmother bought him a kiddie violin, insisting he was gifted. Nearly 19 years later, Williams has shown this to be true — in more ways than one.
Williams is a bit of an anomaly. As a junior music composition major and an outfielder on the Wheaton College baseball team, his feet are placed firmly in both the music and sports worlds. After spending the first two years of college playing football as well, he decided to focus on baseball and music to manage his schedule.
“Dono has always been one of a kind,” said senior communication major Jack Lindsay, a pitcher on the team. “I’ve never seen someone so talented with their athletic and musical ability.”
His coaches have seen the way that Williams incorporates the elements of music and baseball in his play, citing how this makes him a unique member of the team.
“It is almost exhausting to watch Donovan work, and hard to relate to, because the rest of us all have some slow down in our lives,” said Matt Husted, head coach of the baseball team. “But Donovan is different. He is always flying around, and if there’s a break in the action, he’s creating a new beat.”
With an overall optimistic and bouncy demeanor, he does not see the two activities competing with each other. Instead, he sees the musical and sports elements equally at play in his life.
“I’ve never been good at compartmentalizing my life,” said Williams. “I bring everything with me in both spaces. My worlds are colliding at all times. But if I have a bad day at the plate, I can run to the music. If something’s not going right in the practice room, I’ve got my guys on the baseball team, and I can just jump in and compete.”
With the opportunity to perform in both activities, he said that he tends to learn something from one that he carries with him in the other activity.
He also has been excited by the success of his “Dono-Raves” — dance parties he hosts in the McManis-Evans Hall basement— where he tries to bring his two worlds together. At these events, he showcases much of his work at the conservatory and encourages people to let loose.
“ It’s been really cool to have friends from the football team and the viola section just dancing together in the pit,” said Williams. “ Everyone has been so gracious to me, and I’m so grateful for how much love people have shown to me in both worlds I have been involved with on campus.”
Williams, who hopes to pursue a doctorate in music, seems to translate more of his balance into the kind of music he is pioneering — a genre he calls “sacred bass.” The genre is a mix of Romantic-era classical music and dubstep, another meeting of two of his loves.
“ I really try to tie everything either to Scripture or my testimonial path with the Lord, which is why it’s called sacred bass,” said Williams. “I am interested in trying to unify both believers and non-believers through unorthodox, heavy bass sounds with messages reflecting Christianity.”
Under the name TheGiver, Williams has also begun releasing sacred bass music across streaming platforms. Williams hopes that, alongside his eventual career in composition, he can continue playing sports, perhaps on the Minor League Baseball level, while sharing his message.
“ Music and sports are both good and perfect gifts to me,” said Williams. “ Embracing the love of the game and the love of the musical space can be hard at times, but that is where I have always existed. For me, it’s just a matter of being conscious of what the Lord has prepared before me and striving to do that, whatever it may be.”
