Andre Watts

Originally from Germany, Andre Watts is a much honored classical pianist in the US with works mostly related with the music of nineteenth century. Besides working consistently with major Orchestras in the United States, Watts also holds a regular slot at number of major music festivals such as the Hollywood Bowl, Mann Music Center, Tanglewood and Ravinia. His stellar discography consists of recordings of major musicians like Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Liszt, Beethoven, Schubert, MacDowell, and Saint-Saens. Andre Watts tickets are among the fastest selling event tickets as he is a favorite of the classical music lovers!

A seasoned pianist in his mid 60s now, Watts actually started off with violin at the age of four. After moving from Europe to settle in Philadelphia, USA, he started practicing piano but not very enthusiastically. His mother who herself was a pianist was his first teacher. After a little bit of encouragement and a few inspirational Liszt stories by his mother, Andre took up piano more seriously. At age 9, he contested with forty other talented young musicians for a place in the Philadelphia Orchestra's Children's Concerts. Winning that competition was the first step in launching him as a performer in a Franz Joseph Haydn piano concerto. After that it was one concerto after the other. These included performing with the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra followed by a remarkable performance at Lincoln Center with New York Philharmonic where he played Liszt's E-flat Concerto conducted by Leonard Bernstein. It introduced Andre Watts - sixteen at the time - to the audience nationwide after the recording of that program was telecasted on CBS in 1963. But what made international headlines and scored a contract with Columbia Records was his first grand performance with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Bernstein. At his final cadenza of that Liszt E flat Concerto, Andre received a standing ovation and cheers from the audience as well as the whole orchestra!

June 1966 saw the young pianist making a London debut with a performance with the London Symphony Orchestra followed by other performances with notable orchestras in Holland and Germany. After that there was no looking back! The following years his concert schedule was no less than any other celebrity of the time. Meanwhile he continued to study with his teacher Leon Fleisher who was also a noted pianist. Watts graduated in 1972 and after two years embarked on a five-week tour of Japan as well as several summer appearances at a number of festivals. In 1976 he gave a concert that was the first live television broadcast of a solo recital. By the time he turned thirty, he was already celebrating anniversary of his tenth appearance consecutively in Lincoln Center's Great Performance Series which proved his great popularity. This flight to stardom continued well into the twenty first century.

Watts relationship with television started with his signing a contract with CBS Records. After that there were many other programs produced by BBC, PBS and Arts and Entertainment Network as he performed with several major orchestras including Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and more. In 1976 PBS telecasted his first ever full solo recital nationally on the program called Live from Lincoln Center. A televised concert featuring Shostakovich First Piano Concerto was telecasted as part of the 1988-89 season showed Andre as the program host as well as piano soloist. That concert was performed with Philadelphia Orchestra with which he also performed when it was the orchestra's hundredth Anniversary. Among his recent television appearances for PBS is his performance of the Brahms Concerto No.2 with the Seattle Symphony.

The fact was that Andre Watts was the first African American classical concert pianist to attain international super stardom. However, his achievements didn't stop with him being a celebrity. Due to his talent and popularity in a short period of time, he was also awarded with numerous honors and awards. In 1964 Watts received a Grammy Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. At the thirty-eighth Casals Festival in Puerto Rico his performance was nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cultural Programming Category. He was named in 1973 Musical America as the Musician of the Month. In 1984, Watts was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award by Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. In 1988 he received the Avery Fisher Prize which is among the top individual honors given to an American classical musician. Last but not the least, Andre Watts name is also among the Great Pianists of the twentieth century series for Philips.

After more than four decades on the stage, Andre Watts' schedule is busy as ever with several tours and concert performances around the world. The constant demand for Andre Watts tickets also prove the fact that he can still hold the attention of the world with his powerful and passionate performances!