André Watts (June 20, 1946 – July 12, 2023) was an American classical pianist. Over the six decades of his career, Watts performed as soloist with every major American orchestra and most of the world's finest orchestras, including the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
,
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The NSO regularly ...
, and
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
. Watts recorded a variety of repertoire, concentrating on Romantic era composers such as
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...
and
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
, but also including
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...
. In 2020, he was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
. He won a
Grammy Award for Best New Classical Artist in 1964.
Watts was also on the faculty at the
Jacobs School of Music of
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
.
Early life
Born in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
,
Allied-occupied Germany
The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...
, Watts was the son of a Hungarian mother, Maria Alexandra Gusmits, a pianist; and an American father, Herman Watts, a
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
non-commissioned officer. André spent his early childhood in Europe, living mostly near army posts where his father was stationed.
Watts began to study the violin when he was four. By six he decided the piano was his instrument.
When André was eight years old, Herman's military assignment brought the family to the United States. They settled in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Pennsylvania.
His mother started him with his first piano lessons. As do many children, Watts disliked practicing.
For encouragement, his mother would tell stories of the great pianist and composer
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
, making it clear that Liszt practiced faithfully. Watts found inspiration in Liszt, adopting his theatrical playing style.
At age ten, Watts performed
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...
's
G minor concerto at the Robin Hood Dell outdoor amphitheater, where the
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...
had given summer performances (from 1933 through 1975), and at fourteen,
Franck's ''
Symphonic Variations'', again with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
After the divorce of his parents in 1959, Watts remained with his mother,
who supported them by working as a secretary and later as a receptionist.
Watts enrolled at the
Philadelphia Musical Academy (now a part of the
University of the Arts), where he studied with Genia Robinor, Doris Bawden, and Clement Petrillo, graduating in June 1963. He entered his first competition at nine, with forty other children, for the opportunity to perform with the
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...
Children's Concerts. Watts won the competition playing the first movement of
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
's
Piano Concerto in D.
Career
At sixteen, Watts auditioned at
Carnegie Recital Hall in a competition to play in conductor
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
's televised
Young People's Concert series with the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
.
Watts' performance of the Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat at a Young People's Concert on January 12, 1963, was videotaped and nationally televised on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
on January 15, 1963.
Before the concert, Bernstein introduced Watts to the national television audience, stating that he "flipped" when he first heard Watts play.
On January 31, 1963, Bernstein asked the 16-year-old Watts to fill in for the ailing
Glenn Gould, the scheduled soloist for the New York Philharmonic's regular subscription concert. Watts again played the Liszt E-flat Concerto. At its conclusion, the orchestra joined the audience in a thundrous standing ovation.
Watts' first
LP, ''The Exciting Debut of André Watts'', was shortly thereafter released on
Columbia Masterworks records and included the Liszt Concerto with Bernstein and the Philharmonic.
Following graduation, Watts enrolled at the
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a Private university, private music and dance music school, conservatory and College-preparatory school, preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliat ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, where he studied part-time for a Bachelor of Music degree with pianist
Leon Fleisher. The following year, he appeared at New York City's
Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York (CCNY). It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973.
History
The Doric-colonnaded amphitheater was built between Amsterdam and Conv ...
with conductor
Seiji Ozawa
was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After cond ...
, and the New York Philharmonic, performing
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...
'
Concerto No. 2 in G minor. In September 1963, he again performed the Liszt concerto at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
in Los Angeles. He opened the 1964–65 season of the
National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The NSO regularly ...
in Washington, D.C., again performing the Saint-Saëns concerto. He returned to New York in January 1965 to perform
Chopin's
Concerto No. 2 in F minor. Watts made his European debut in a London performance with the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
in June 1966.
By 1969, he was on a full-scale concert schedule, booked three years in advance. Watts made his Boston debut in 1969 for the
Peabody Mason Concert series. He graduated from the Peabody Institute in 1972. He signed a long-term exclusive contract with
Columbia Masterworks Records
Columbia Masterworks was a record label started in 1924 by Columbia Records. In 1980, it was separated from the Columbia label and renamed CBS Masterworks. In 1990, it was revived as Sony Classical after its sale to the Sony Corporation.
Histo ...
on his 21st birthday. The contract ended in 1977.
In February 1973, Watts was selected as ''Musical America's'' Musician of the Month.
His other honors and awards included ''
doctor honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'' degrees from
Albright College
Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023.
History
Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...
and
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
, the Order of Zaire,
a University of the Arts Medal from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia,
and the
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
.
By the mid-1970s, Watts was giving 150 concerts, recitals, and chamber performances per season, performing about eight months out of the year. In 1976, at age thirty, he celebrated his tenth consecutive appearance in the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
Great Performers Series at
Avery Fisher Hall
David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic.
The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...
. The
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
Sunday afternoon telecast was the first solo recital presented on ''
Live from Lincoln Center
''Live from Lincoln Center'' was a seventeen-time Emmy Award-winning series that broadcast notable performances from the Lincoln Center in New York City on PBS starting 1976. The program aired between six and nine times per season. Episodes of '' ...
'' and the first full-length recital to be aired nationally in prime time.
In 1985, he signed a recording contract with
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
, with whom he recorded until the early 1990s. He also recorded for
Telarc
Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...
.
In November 2002, Watts suffered a
subdural hematoma
A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges surrou ...
and underwent emergency surgery. In 2004, he also had surgery for a
ruptured disc which was affecting the use of his left hand. He continued performing regularly after recovering from the aforementioned surgeries.
In 2004, Watts joined the faculty at Indiana University, where he held the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music.
In 2019, Watts underwent surgery for a nerve injury to his left hand resulting in the cancellation of several performances. He reworked the
Ravel Concerto for Left Hand to perform with his right hand and was planning to perform the work with the
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and
Atlanta Symphony Orchestras. Ultimately, however, he was unable to perform the concerto due to the pandemic and continuing health issues.
Personal life and death
Watts was married to Joan Brand, had two stepchildren, and had seven step-grandchildren.
He was diagnosed with
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
in July 2016,
and died of the disease at home in
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...
, on July 12, 2023, at age 77.
Awards and recognitions
*
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
Most Promising New Classical Recording Artist
* 1973 Honorary Doctorate,
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
* 1975 Honorary Doctorate,
Albright College
Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023.
History
Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...
* 1984 Distinguished Alumni Award, Peabody Institute of
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
* 1988
Avery Fisher Prize
* 1988
University of the Arts Medal, Philadelphia
* 2011
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
* 2013
American Classical Music Hall of Fame
* 2014 Cincinnati MacDowell Society's MacDowell Medal
* 2018 The Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award from Harvard
*2020 Elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
*2021 Honorary Doctorate, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
*2022 American Liszt Society Medal
References
External links
*
*
*
* ,
WNCN-FM, October 14, 1983
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Andre
1946 births
2023 deaths
20th-century African-American musicians
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century American classical pianists
21st-century African-American musicians
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American classical pianists
African-American classical pianists
American expatriates in Germany
American male classical pianists
American people of Hungarian descent
Columbia Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Indiana
Deaths from prostate cancer in the United States
EMI Records artists
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Grammy Award winners
Indiana University faculty
Jacobs School of Music faculty
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Musicians from New York City
Musicians from Nuremberg
Musicians from Philadelphia
Peabody Institute alumni
American piano educators
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni