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High Voltage Performance
Pianist André Watts returns to the BSO
by Christianna McCausland
8 O v ertur e |
www. bsomusic .org
Ste ve J . Sh er man
I
n April, pianist André Watts returns to the BSO to play Grieg’s Piano Concerto, under
the baton of Jakub Hrůša. ¶ Watts’s career spans decades. His earliest influence was his
mother, also a pianist, who nurtured his studies. His first break came when he played
under Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic as part of the nationally
broadcast Young People’s Concerts. Bernstein then asked Watts to substitute at the last
minute for Glenn Gould, who was ill, and a star was born. ¶ Watts is internationally
renowned, having received the National Medal of Arts, given by the President of the
United States, in 2011. Previously artist-in-residence at the University of Maryland, Watts
is now professor of music at Indiana University.