After experience playing snare drum in marching and concert bands, he began to study timpani while in high school.

Noted composers Lukas Foss, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Morton Feldman, Iannis Xenakis, Frederic Rzewski, Nils Vigeland, Joel Chadabe, Luis De Pablo, Gustavo Matamoros, and Orlando Garcia have written works for him.

Williams conducted colleagues and former students in a performance of Edgard Varèse's iconic percussion composition, Ionisation.

[5] Jan Williams was interviewed in 2014 as part of the Burchfield Penney Art Center's Living Legacy Project.

(Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo)[7] Williams has appeared professionally as a percussionist and conductor in the United States and internationally.