Dianne Williams began playing the flute at age ten while attending elementary school in rural Ohio. Within no time at all, she realized that playing the flute was more than just a hobby...it was a passion. She received many musical accolades during her high school years, including the principal flutist for the Canton Youth Symphony and the Orion award for the most outstanding musician in her school.

With scholarships for being valedictorian of her graduating class and for her musical talents, Dianne attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and received a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in English, graduating as Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with honors and distinction in both degrees.

She very much wanted to continue her musical training, but instead took a respectable job in marketing, utilizing her creativity and her English degree. After a three-year career in marketing and advertising, Dianne decided to put her passion for music on the front burner again and to follow her heart. She invested in a professional-level handmade flute and created a rigorous daily practice schedule for herself. Somehow, she had a feeling that music was the right path for her.

One day, after skimming through a flute-related newsletter printed in California...a newsletter which she hadn't been reading for some time...Dianne noticed a very small black and white advertisement staring at her from the trash can. The headline read, "Graduate Assistantship Opportunity." It was enough to spark her interest. As she read the ad, all she could think was, "I should have gone to graduate school and gotten a Masters Degree in Flute Performance." As she reached the bottom of the ad, she realized that it took a publication from the other side of the country to make her aware that a graduate school just 34 miles from her home was the answer to her prayers.

So a few weeks later, Dianne auditioned at the University of Akron having decided that she would only go back to school if she received a full-tuition scholarship. After all, she was engaged, soon to be married, and the extra cost of graduate school in addition to the loss of her salary would be too much for a newlywed couple. She had faith that she would get a full-tuition scholarship if a career in music was meant to be. After all, what did she have to lose? If she didn't get a full-tuition scholarship, she would keep her job as an advertising Account Executive by day, and closet musician by night.

Much to her surprise, Dianne soon discovered that she had indeed received a full-tuition scholarship. She left her advertising career behind, and dusted off her old backpack. In one whirlwind year, she obtained her Masters Degree in Performance with a 4.0 GPA and was inducted into the national music honor society, Pi Kappa Lambda. During that time, she also won two competitions, providing the opportunity to perform for Jack Wellbaum, former piccolo player for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and renowned flutist Paula Robison of the New England Conservatory of Music.

Divine intervention continued to lead her down a path of musical bliss and success. She had always dreamt of being a recording artist. Aspiring to be like Jim Brickman, Enya, and Sarah Brightman, Dianne had big ideas and it seemed that everyone who heard her perform thought she was perfect for the part.

One sunny morning, Dianne was witness to a "sign" indicating that a recording venture was the right thing to do. She found a dollar bill on the sidewalk, and although it may sound crazy to many, to her that dollar bill was a sign. You see, Dianne had prayed that she would win the lottery, but she would only buy a ticket if she found a dollar bill on a sidewalk. It's a funny prayer, considering that there are no sidewalks in her rural little hometown. But on the very day that she was going to the recording studio for the first time to start planning her CD "Simplicity," she happened to walk out of her way to get to a sidewalk she had never used before. And there on the edge of the sidewalk, barely fluttering in the brisk breeze, was a crisp dollar bill. How that dollar bill survived the violent, thunderous storm the night before and why Dianne walked the opposite direction of her class (for which she was already late) to get to this sidewalk...well, these things are still mysteries.

Sure, some might call it coincidence. But not Dianne. Dianne calls it her sign. To her, that simple dollar bill was a sign that the "lottery" was the investment of this recording, and she was going to win. It was time to buy a ticket into her own future. That dollar bill is now framed in her studio, and is a constant reminder that she was sent to this Earth to bring beautiful music to those who are willing to listen.

In June 2001, Dianne recorded Simplicity. Everyone who heard it was moved by its sincerity, purity, and fusion of classical and contemporary. Almost to Dianne's own surprise, CDs were selling like hotcakes immediately. Audience members were asking for autographs. Orders were coming in every day. Performance opportunities became more plentiful. Fans begged for a holiday album.

So, in August 2002, Dianne released her second album, Tinsel. Featuring well-known and lesser-known traditional holiday melodies from around the world, fans raved about the new CD which included their favorite festive melodies and introduced new songs to their holiday traditions. She performed 40 concerts in 35 days that holiday season. Fans loved every celebratory second. Once again, they begged for another album.

Exactly one year later, in August 2003, Lovesong made its debut. Fans fell in love with the album's original arrangements based on sentimental and romantic melodies from folk songs, operas, ballets, and classical chamber music. Anyone who wanted to remember loved ones while listening to music or share their love with others…from spouses to kids, from relatives to friends…found that Lovesong was the perfect way to do exactly that. They are already asking for another album. Dianne will most likely oblige.

In her "spare time," Dianne has also taught several courses, including music theory for college music majors at Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio; informational classes entitled "Catch the Wave" for middle school students through the Canton Symphony Educational Outreach program; and recorder classes for elementary students as part of the Canton Symphony's "After School Alive" program. She is an associate flutist and piccolo player with several professional symphony orchestras throughout Ohio and West Virginia including Columbus, Akron, Canton, Ashland, Mansfield, Wheeling, and Tuscarawas. Presently, she operates a studio of private flute students and performs regularly as a featured soloist in concerts and performances.