André Watts

André Watts ( born June 20, 1946 in Nuremberg, Germany) is a classical pianist and professor at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington.

Life and early performances

Watts was born in Nuremberg, the son of a Hungarian pianist, Maria Alexandra Gusmits, and a U.S. officer, Herman Watts.

He spent his early childhood in Europe and lived mostly at bases where his father was stationed. At age four he started to learn violin, but decided at age six for the piano. At the age of eight, the family moved for employment reasons to Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania, USA). His mother taught him piano and practicing since he was preparing not fun, his mother tried to motivate him with stories about the pianist and composer Franz Liszt. Watts had taken a liking to Liszt and was influenced by the dramatic style of play. His first contest he competed at the age of 9 years to get the chance to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra, a children's concert. In the competition, he took up with a piece by Joseph Haydn and won. With 10 years he led the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1, with 14 years of César Franck's Symphonic Variations with the Philadelphia Orchestra, with 16 he met with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, with Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major at Carnegie recital Hall, where he replaced the short-term diseased Glenn Gould. For his first album "The Exciting Debut of Andre'Watts " that Columbia Records brought out in 1963, he was awarded the Grammy Award for Most Promising Artist of the classical music scene ("... most promising new classical music artist ..."). 1976 with a concert entitled " Live from the Lincoln Center " broadcast live from the PBS television. It was the first piano recital in the history of American television, which was broadcast nationally and well in prime time, live in full length. 1969 Watts played at the inauguration of President Nixon. Since 2004 he has taught at Indiana University Bloomington.

Awards

Swell

  • Pianist
  • Grammy winner
  • University teachers (Indiana University Bloomington )
  • Born in 1946
  • Man
  • Americans
Piano Concerto No. 1 (Liszt) Carnegie Hall Integrated Authority File
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