He started with the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, but by the age of ten he had also developed a taste for those of Richard Wagner.
Williams was educated at Ysgol Hooson in Rhosllanerchrugog and Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham, and then read music at The Queen's College, Oxford, from 1995 to 1998, finishing with a First-Class degree and being awarded The Gibbs Prize in Music for outstanding performance in his final examinations.
[3] He attended the Royal Academy of Music as a postgraduate scholar and studied with Michael Dussek, Iain Ledingham, Hamish Milne, Julius Drake and Irina Zaritskaya.
In 2004 he received an award of £20,000 from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, part of which he said he would spend on replacing the mechanics of his piano, which had become worn out through being played for six hours each day.
[4] In 2018 Williams was made an Honorary Fellow of Wrexham Glyndŵr University for his services to music.
[12] Early in 2007 Williams performed at 11 venues in the United States on his tour with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
In the same year he was appointed an official accompanist for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, a role he continues to fulfil.