News Release

Note: For a photo of Watts and a downloadable press kit, click on http://www.carolinaperformingarts.org/media/event.aspx?id=babb88a7-9d66-473b-a6be-046970dcf31c

Concert part of André Watts’ 50th-anniversary tour  

CHAPEL HILL – Pianist André Watts, who has played before royalty in Europe and heads of government in nations across the world, will perform at 8 p.m. Friday (April 20) in the Beasley-Curtis Auditorium at Memorial Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The performance, presented by Carolina Performing Arts, is part of a nationwide tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of Watts’ 1957 debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his 60th birthday on June 20.

Watts will perform a selection of songs from Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Luciano Berio (1925-2003), Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Ferencz Liszt (1811-1886) and Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849).

Watts made his debut at age 9 and he achieved national exposure at 16, when composer Leonard Bernstein chose him to perform with the New York Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts, broadcast nationwide. More than 40 years later, Watts performs with the world’s great orchestras and conductors, including the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Atlanta, St. Louis, National, Indianapolis, Seattle, Milwaukee, Colorado and New Jersey symphonies.

Watts is performing this season with many American orchestras. He also appears in recital throughout the country at locations including the orchestra halls in Chicago and Detroit, as part of the Chicago and Detroit symphonies’ seasons.

Watts has received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout his career. Previously artist in residence at the University of Maryland, he is now the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music at Indiana University. Last year, Watts was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. The award recognizes artists whose achievements embody the spirit of the Bowl, a cultural staple in California since 1922.

Watts’ performance is made possible by the William R. Kenan Jr. Trust Endowment.

Tickets, $30-$60, are available online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org, by calling (919) 843-3333 or from the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tickets for Carolina students are $10.

André Watts Web site: http://www.cmartists.com/artists/andre_watts.htm

Note: Media representatives are invited to cover the performance. For more information contact Don Smith, (919) 843-3119, donsmith@email.unc.edu; or Jennifer Warner, (919) 966-3834, jenniferwarner@unc.edu.