André Watts facts for kids
André Watts (born June 20, 1946 – died July 12, 2023) was a famous American classical pianist. He also taught music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. During his career, Watts played with many top orchestras, like the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. He recorded many different types of music, focusing on composers from the Romantic era such as Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. He also played music by George Gershwin. In 2020, he was chosen to be a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Early Life
André Watts was born in Nuremberg, Germany. His mother, Maria Alexandra Gusmits, was from Hungary and played the piano. His father, Herman Watts, was an African American soldier in the U.S. Army. André spent his early childhood in Europe, often living near army bases where his father was stationed.
He started learning the violin when he was four years old. By the time he was six, he decided the piano was his favorite instrument. When André was eight, his family moved to the United States. They settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His mother gave him his first piano lessons. Like many children, Watts didn't always like practicing. To encourage him, his mother would tell stories about the great pianist and composer Franz Liszt. She made it clear that Liszt practiced a lot. Watts found inspiration in Liszt and began to play with a dramatic style. After his parents separated in 1962, Watts stayed with his mother. She worked as a secretary and receptionist to support them.
Watts went to the Philadelphia Musical Academy, which is now part of the University of the Arts. He studied with several teachers and graduated in June 1963. He entered his first music competition at age nine. Forty other children were also competing for a chance to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Watts won the competition, playing a concerto by Joseph Haydn.
At ten years old, Watts performed Mendelssohn's G minor concerto with the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra. When he was fourteen, he played Franck's Symphonic Variations again with the Philadelphia Orchestra. At sixteen, he auditioned at Carnegie Recital Hall. He was competing for a spot on conductor Leonard Bernstein's televised Young People's Concert series with the New York Philharmonic.
Career Highlights
André Watts' performance of the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat was a big moment. He played it at a Young People's Concert on January 12, 1963. The concert was filmed and shown on CBS across the country on January 15, 1963. Before the concert, Bernstein introduced Watts to the TV audience. He said he was amazed when he first heard Watts play.
Soon after, on January 31, 1963, Bernstein asked Watts to play for the New York Philharmonic's regular concert. The scheduled soloist, Glenn Gould, was sick. Watts played the Liszt E-flat Concerto again. When he finished his last solo part, the whole orchestra and audience gave him a standing ovation. Watts' first album, The Exciting Debut of André Watts, was released soon after. It included the Liszt Concerto with Bernstein and the Philharmonic.
After graduating, Watts studied part-time at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. The next year, he played with conductor Seiji Ozawa and the New York Philharmonic. He performed Camille Saint-Saëns' Concerto No. 2 in G minor. In September 1963, he played the Liszt concerto again in Los Angeles. He opened the 1964–65 season of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., playing the Saint-Saëns concerto. In January 1965, he returned to New York to play Chopin's Concerto No. 2 in F minor. Watts made his first European performance in London in June 1966 with the London Symphony Orchestra.
By 1969, he was performing a lot, with concerts booked three years in advance. Watts played his first concert in Boston in 1969. He graduated from the Peabody Institute in 1972. On his 21st birthday, he signed a long-term contract with Columbia Masterworks Records.
In February 1973, Watts was named Musical America's Musician of the Month. He received many other awards and honors. These included honorary doctorates from Albright College and Yale University, and the National Medal of Arts.
By the mid-1970s, Watts was giving about 150 concerts and recitals each season. He performed for about eight months a year. In 1976, at age thirty, he celebrated his tenth year performing in the Lincoln Center Great Performers Series. A special TV broadcast on PBS showed his solo recital. It was the first full-length solo recital shown nationally in prime time.
In 1985, he signed a recording contract with EMI. He also recorded for Telarc.
In November 2002, Watts had emergency brain surgery. In 2004, he had back surgery that affected his left hand. He continued to perform regularly after recovering from these surgeries.
In 2004, Watts joined the faculty at Indiana University. He held an important teaching position there.
In 2019, he had surgery for a nerve injury in his left hand. This caused him to cancel some performances. He then changed the Ravel Concerto for Left Hand so he could play it with his right hand. He performed this special version with the Detroit and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.
Death
Watts was diagnosed with prostate cancer in July 2016. He passed away from cancer on July 12, 2023, at the age of 77.
Awards and Recognitions
- 1964 Most Promising New Classical Recording Artist
- 1973 Honorary Doctorate, Yale University
- 1975 Honorary Doctorate, Albright College
- 1984 Distinguished Alumni Award, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University
- 1988 Avery Fisher Prize
- 1988 University Of The Arts Medal, Philadelphia
- 2011 National Medal of Arts
- 2013 American Classical Music Hall of Fame
- 2014 Cincinnati MacDowell Society's MacDowell Medal
- 2020 Elected to the American Philosophical Society
- 2021 Honorary Doctorate, Boston Conservatory at Berklee
See Also
In Spanish: André Watts para niños
