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, Glenfiddich, Sir Robert Helpmann, Grace Knight, Debbie Newsome, Caroline O'Connor, and Torvill and Dean.

[4][5] Williams was awarded a doctorate by the University of Edinburgh under Nigel Osborne and Peter Nelson for composition of his eponymous opera Wilde,[6] and he is a Fellow of Trinity College London.

[11][12] As arranger, orchestrator, conductor and musician commissioned by international artists Caroline O'Connor,[13] Sir Robert Helpmann,[14][15] Torvill and Dean, Grace Knight, Frank Bennett, Debbie Newsome, Sir Howard Morrison, and prominent Australian screen composers Martin Armiger, Guy Gross, and Antony Partos, Williams is also known for his reorchestrations of tracks from hit records.

[19][20] He was composer for Ruaridh M. Turner's The Beast in the Storm, which won Order of Merit in the Indie Fest[21] and Best Action/Thriller/SciFi – Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards.

In 2010, the Royal Geographical Society co-opted Williams as family representative for its publication of Claud's autobiographical memoir, Light Car Patrols 1916–19,[34] and he was guest speaker at the 2013 book launch.

Aloha received favourable reviews, with the New Zealand Herald reporting, "Derek Williams' orchestra helps to make the evening a success,"[63][15][14] and a cast recording produced by Carl Doy was made of the show at Mandrill Studios.

Williams thereafter began working with Armiger in various roles for 15 film and TV scores and was also orchestrator and conductor for leading screen composers Guy Gross and Antony Partos.

In 1998, Williams was record producer, arranger and conductor for Frank Bennett's album Cash Landing for EMI Music Australia,[16] which was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album (1999)[80] and from 1989 to 2006, he was a Higher School Certificate examiner and advisor in Music and Computing Studies for the New South Wales Board of Studies while teaching at Randwick Boys High School (1985–2006).

[93] In 2008, Williams joined with Professor Nigel Osborne in his Balkans Music Therapy camps in Mostar and Rakovica for Bosnian War orphans, on behalf of Edinburgh University.

[119] After reaching 11,590 signatures, the petition was presented by Williams in person to Sibelius Software executives from Avid invited to an extraordinary meeting held by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) at its London offices on 3 October.

[122] Central to the Save Sibelius campaign were the issues of orphaned technology, abandonware, planned obsolescence, asset stripping, and the perceived impact of Avid Tech's actions on employees, shareholders and consumers.

[123][124][125] After having worked with New Zealand Labour Party MP Fran Wilde in support of her Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986,[1] from 1990 Williams became involved with LGBT rights in New South Wales Australia, initially as a witness for a discrimination case brought by Redjoy Pty Ltd (trading as 'Gai Expectations') against Sydney City Council Employees Credit Union, interviewed on Nine Network's A Current Affair by Eric Campbell.

[135] During GaLTaS' active period, Williams frequently appeared in press and television coverage of LGBT issues, including the Today Show, The 7.30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Attitude program[136] Nine Network's 60 Minutes and the TV series Sex episode "Homosexuality",[1][137] and was interviewed by Quentin Dempster, Eric Campbell and Sophie Lee.

In 1997 Williams addressed the Parliament of Australia forum on youth suicide convened by then Prime Minister, John Howard,[138][139] working with PFLAG who also attended.

[126][144][145] Commissioning composers: Martin Armiger, Guy Gross, Antony Partos, Roy Hubermann, David Kimber Commissioning organisations: Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Nine Network, EMI Music Australia, Festival Mushroom Records, Picture This Music, John Singleton Ltd Derek Williams credited as Arranger, Orchestrator, Composer, Associate Composer, Conductor or Musician in the following moving image works: The Edinburgh Quartet 7243 4 98085 2 2 7243 8 86610 2 7 Choral (Kate Ceberano) Shortcode = rl942 Choral PhD, BMus, DipEd, FTCL, LMusTCL, DipTeach(NSW), DipTchg(NZ)