Pianist Watts to Conduct Master Class

Pianist Watts to Conduct Master Class

BY DAVID KAPLAN
Rice News Staff

André Watts, one of the world’s most celebrated classical pianists, will give a guest artist master class for Shepherd School of Music students on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Stude Concert Hall. The master class is free and open to the public.

Watts, who will perform at a Feb. 4 Houston Symphony Orchestra concert, is a devoted friend and supporter of the Shepherd School.

The Washington Post has described Watts as “a formidable technical arsenal, a still more-powerful intellect. It would be hard to ask more of a pianist and musician.” The Dallas Morning News declared: “Piano playing doesn’t get any better than this. You can consider yourself lucky to find an artist on (Watts’) level once every few generations.”

Watts entered the music spotlight at age 16, when he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic for a Young People’s Concert broadcast nationally on CBS. Two weeks later, Leonard Bernstein asked him to play with the philharmonic again, as a substitute for Glenn Gould, who was ill. Those two performances launched Watts into stardom.

Thirty years later, Watts remains one of the world’s most beloved and admired pianists. He performs each year with the world’s outstanding orchestras and draws sellout crowds for his recitals and appearances at prestigious international festivals.

He is an active recording artist who has also had a long and noteworthy association with television. His PBS Sunday afternoon telecast in 1976 was the first full-length piano recital in the history of television. In 1988, Watts received the Avery Fisher Prize.

Watts is also known for his dedication to nonprofit groups that serve the arts and society. He has performed at numerous benefits and has assumed a leadership role with Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS. Watts donates a portion of his fee from every United States concert to that cause.

For more information about the master class call the concert office at (713) 348-4933.