Arrowtown will experience her talents live this weekend, when the soprano soloist joins fellow Opera Otago vocalists Emma Fraser, Clare Barton, Julien van Mallearts and Andreas Hirt, with pianist Julia Horsnell, for their English language costumed one-act comic opera double bill, The Perils of Strong Women.
The show features First the Music Then the Words, or How to Compose an Opera in Three Days, by Antonio Salieri, and The Maid Becomes Mistress, by Giovanni Pergolesi.
"In both operas, the women characters are very strong willed, almost caricatures," Ms Willyams said.
"'It's really good fun and even though they're both 18th century, they've been given a modern feel and translation and are very accessible."
Ms Willyams (23) said she was one of about a dozen pupils in her home town of Alexandra who entered the secondary students' choir, but she did not get in the first time.
"It made me work harder and I got in the second round and that was a wonderful experience, being in the choir.
It really taught me and showed me a level of professionalism and a higher standard which I hadn't thought possible.
"That's what gave me the incentive to pursue singing further at university."
Ms Willyams will finish her master of arts history thesis, at the University of Otago this year, where she pursued her passions of singing and history.
She was conferred two undergraduate degrees - a bachelor of music in performance voice and a bachelor of arts in history with first class honours.
In 2008, she was awarded a Returned and Services' Association scholarship, which gave her the opportunity to perform in the Dunedin Town Hall and funded her voice tuition.
After shows in Gore and Port Chalmers, Opera Otago brings The Perils of Strong Women to the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall, tomorrow, the Alexandra Memorial Theatre on June 19, the Lake Wanaka Centre (June 25) and the Cromwell Memorial Hall (June 26).
