SCOTT WATKINS: NEWS

Although Mr. Weissenberg had been ill for some time, his death is no less sad nor shocking. I had the good fortune to have had a lesson with Mr. Weissenberg in the 1990s which was an experience I will never forget. He was a generous man (generous with his time, energy, money, art) to whom the sound of the piano was his own voice ... his language. His career was storied, legendary, and his playing was revered by so many. He played the piano with what was once called scientific clarity, could produce unthinkable volume "without ever losing the shimmering roundness of tone." - The New York Times.

More and more of his once thought lost or forgotten recordings are again being reissued (thankfully) and more video of his performces is also becoming known and available. Most remarkable is his Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in Paris with conductor Georges Pretre.

I first saw and heard him in Cincinnati in a performance of the Third Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto with conductor Jesus Lopez Cobos. I have never been the same. I heard him again in an all-Schumann recital in Chicago, and met him many times after masterclasses. He always remembered me by name - not unusual for him.

More than anything, he taught me (at my lesson, in masterclass, through interviews, and by his performances) to have faith and courage in my musical convictions; to trust my beliefs; and to always play the piano for the one person who may be listening to you because he MUST.

I invite and encourage you to learn about the artistry of Alexis Weissenberg.

RIP Maestro.

I am honored to have been recently named one of five living Shigeru Kawai artists.

For further details, please visit http://shigerukawai.com/main_links/artists_bios/scott_watkins.html
When I play a Shigeru, I feel like a real pianist ... like an artist.

Thank you to the wonderful people at Kawai and Shigeru Kawai for this humbling honor.

We've added two new links - each to articles in The Financial Times, London. One deals with the future of pianism, and the other focuses on the large number of Chinese children studying the piano. Both are excellent.

Just announced.

A recital program of four of Beethoven's most beloved Piano Sonatas (Pathetique, Tempest, Moonlight, Waldstein) is now available for booking. Appearances are available beginning in March, 2012 through the 2014 concert season. Also included are Piano Concertos 3 and 5. For recital booking convenience and special requests, the Piano Sonatas in B-flat major, Op. 22, and in A major, Op. 101 are available.

Your request for information and/or booking dates may be sent to beethoven@scottwatkinspianist.com

Thank you.

Scott Watkins' first visit to China was a success!

On May 8, Watkins began his visit as Visiting Foreign Scholar at North National University in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, where he gave six masterclasses. During this visit he also met privately with the members of the piano faculty with whom he discussed teaching challenges and goals. May 11 he gave a recital to a standing-room-only crowd which was well received. During this recital Watkins gave the Chinese premiere of composer He Jian-jun's Piano Sonata No. 1 (which he had played at Carnegie Hall in April of 2010).

May 14 Watkins travelled to Lanzhou where he performed the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with the Lanzhou Symphony Orchestra conducted by Heping Liu. In doing so, Watkins became the first American pianist ever to perform with the city's orchestra. He has been invited to return for the 2011-2012 concert season for performances of Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto.

Upcoming in June are two appearances at the St. Augustine Music Festival. On May 18 Watkins will perform works by Franz Liszt to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth. May 25 Watkins will join forces with Festival director Jorge Pena for a performance of Brahms' Sonata for Viola and Piano in E-flat Major.

We are excited to announce an upcoming brief tour of China, May 7 - 22. Recitals and masterclasses, Univeristy visits, etc. are being planned.

Recital program to include Chinese composer, Jian-jun He's Piano Sonata No. 1 which I first performed at Carnegie Hall in April, 2010.

Also on the program is Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata, some Chopin Waltzes, and some Liszt.

For the fifth year in a row, we are pround to participate in the ever-expanding and ever-more-popular ST. AUGUSTINE MUSIC FESTIVAL, organized and directed by the exciting musical team of Jorge and Jin Pena. This year promises to be better than ever, and we are delighted to participated. June 18 I'll join Jorge for a performance of Brahms' noble Sonata in E-flat major for Viola and Piano, then, on June 24, I'll perform music by Liszt in honor of the composer's 200th birthday!

My high school senior student, Ben Clark, will visit Europe in late March - we wish him a wonderful trip! Congratulations to him for winning the Florida State Music Teachers' Associaion District 4 (JMTA) Senior Piano Concerto Competition March 12. That same afternoon Ben also was named a finalist in the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra Competition. Ben performed the Piano Concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel.

My students are asking me: "why are having all these birthday celebrations?" - finally they are understanding the importance of Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, and Mendelssohn - iconic figures of music's great Romantic period.

My studio class will give it's third annual Spring recital April 8 - "A Liszt Retrospective." Starring Alfred Meneses, John Shannon, Katherine Adams, Tyler Bechtle, Grace Han, Juan Rogers, Austin Clark, Kate Sobleman, Karen O'Connell, Noel West)

On April 15 I'll present my annual faculty recital. This year, to accomodate an upcoming concert tour to China in May, my program will include five Waltzes by Chopin (hope one of them is your favorite), Moszrt's dramatic Sonata in A minor, K. 310, and to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Liszt (2011) I'll perform his powerful Vallee d'Obermann, a couple of the Petrarc Sonnets (Nos. 123 and 104) and the energetic Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12.

In March, I joined the Brevard Symphony Orchestra for performances of Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major. It was a blast!

Next season is already in the planning: April 13 I'll join the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and conductor Michael Butterman in a performance of Beethoven's Concerto No. 3, then the following weekend I'll give a recital of four of Beethoven's most beloved piano sonatas ("Tempest," "Pathetique," "Moonlight," "Waldstein").

Coming up:

April 8: My piano studio class will present their third annual Spring recital: A Liszt Retrospective (Alfred Meneses, John Shannon, Katherine Adams, Juan Rogers, Austin Clark, Karen O'Connell, Grace Han, Kate Sobelman, Tyler Bechtle, Noel West).

April 15: Schumann's "Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13," ... a work I last played at my Carnegie Hall debut (June, 1999), plus a host of pieces by Franz Liszt (Three Petrarch Sonnets, Vallee d'Obermann, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12).

March 5&6: Liszt Second Concerto in A major with the Brevard Symphony Orchestra and conductor Christopher Confessore.

June: St. Augustine Music Festival

BEETHOVEN Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19
BEETHOVEN Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"
CHOPIN Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
GERSHWIN "Rhapsody in Blue"
GRIEG Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
LISZT Concerto No. 2 in A major
MOZART Concerto No. 12 in A major, K. 414
MOZART Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
MOZART Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major, K. 595
RACHMANINOFF Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
TCHAIKOVSKY Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23

Recital at Jacksonville University to debut the new concert piano which was originally scheduled for March 26 (Friday evening at 7:30)has been moved ahead one day to Thursday evening, March 25, at 7:30.

Program:
BEETHOVEN Sonata in A major, Op. 101
HE JIAN-JUN Piano Sonata No. 1 (2009)
CHOPIN 14 Waltzes

The Chopin Waltzes are performed in observance of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth.

A reception will follow.

The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Fabio Mechetti presents Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte." I've been enjoying the staging rehearsals as pianist, and I'm looking forward to the continuo work at the performance, February 13.

February 7, Jacksonville University, 3pm, annual ComposerFest Concert (music by Harrison, Schirmer, Steve, and the Florida premiere of Jian-jun He's Piano Sonata).

March 2, Jacksonville University Orchestra, music by Watkins (Two Poems by Walt Whitman for baritone and orchestra with Robert Tudor, bariton soloist), Steve (Piano Concerto, Scott Watkins, piano soloist).

March 12-21, France and Poland to celebrate Chopin's 200th anniversary.

DATE CHANGE!
March 25, Jacksonville University... Watkins' solo recital (preview of his Carnegie Hall recital April 10), includes Beethoven Sonata in A major, Op. 101, He Piano Sonata (2009), Chopin Fourteen Waltzes, and features JU's new concert grand piano, Shigeru-Kawai.

April 10, solo recital, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, 5:30pm. Tickets available starting February 15, $25.00 each.

April 12, Studio Class Recital, Jacksonville University. Featuring Alfred Meneses, Katherine Adams, John Shannon, Mallory Bray, Grace Han, Elizabeth Janiak, Tyler Bechtle, Ben Clark, Victor Huls, Austin Clark, Kate Sobelman.

I'm building a database of Chopin performances during 2010 (the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth). Please send me an e-mail with your repertoire, date, time, location, and any other details. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

I'm playing Chopin's Fourteen Waltzes at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, April 10, 2010, 5:30pm.

Please send your information to:
info@scottwatkinspianist.com

February 7, New Music Festival at Jacksonville University
CLIFTON CALLENDER "Point and Line to Plane" (for solo piano)
JIAN-JUN HE Sonata for French Horn and Piano
SCOTT WATKINS Music from the original motion picture "Soul in the Machine"

February 13, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
MOZART Cosi fan tutte (continuo)

March 12 - 21
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
HE Piano Sonata (European Premiere)
CHOPIN Fourteen Waltzes
(Warsaw, Paris) (dates, locations TBA)

March 26 (JU)
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata, No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
HE Piano Sonata (Florida Premiere)
CHOPIN Fourteen Waltzes

April 10 (NYC)
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata, No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
HE Piano Sonata (New York Premiere)
CHOPIN Fourteen Waltzes
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
(tickets are $25 and available starting February 15)

This web-site has been visited from Norway, The Slovak Republic, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, israel, Russian Federation, Singapore, Argentina, Canada, Seychelles, and the United Kingdom.

Thanks, and welcome!

The great Cuban pianist, Jorge Bolet, has a living legacy in Jacksonville! His name is Nico Bolet, and today, Nico visited with the piano students and faculty at Jacksonville University.

After viewing a video of Jorge Bolet performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, from a broadcast in 1961 (the Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra was conducted by Paul Whiteman, who gave, with Gershwin himself, the first ever performance of Rhapsody in Blue in 1925), we were treated to stories and memories of "Uncle Jorge."

I'll be posting photos soon.

REVIEW:
SRI LANKAN PIANIST AT JACKSONVILLE UNIVERSITY

Pianist HARSHA ABEYARATNE stunned the audience at Jacksonville University's Terry Concert Hall, Saturday Evening, April 9th. His ambitions program included the chilling Sonata in A minor by Franz Schubert, and other works by Brahms, Debussy, Liszt, and Prokofiev.

The hightlight of the recital has to have been his masterfully compelling reading of the Third Piano Sonata of American composer Robert Muczynski. His total command of the work, with all of its intracacies and complexities, made for a stunned and appreciative response. His handling of the extreme sonorities was exact and scientific in a way which made this work easy to hear and comprehend. His playing was clear, and the work's monumental technical challenges proved to be child's play under the skillful hands of this musical craftsman.

Abeyaratne also showed musicianship and taste in his reading of Schubert's Sonata in A minor, a work with a tragic and emotional core. His care in the Sonata's first movement was heartfelt. His second movement was graceful and lyrical, and the third movement's often treacherous technical challenges proved no match for Abeyaratne's pianism. He handled all of Schubert's pianistic challenges with ease, especially the closing octaves which were as fast and clear as they deserve to be heard.

Abeyaratne opened his sophisticated program with three of Debussy's Preludes which were performed with charm and wit. While his reading of General Lavine was perhaps over-romanticized in its use of rubato, the message of the quirky clown was unmistakably clear. Liszt's Sonetto 123 del Petrarca, as well as Brahms Fantasy (Op. 116) got a warm, romantic, full-bodied performance.

Abeyaratne capped his recital with Prokofiev's Toccata. A thrilling conclusion to a wonderfully presented performance.

Harsha Abeyaratne offered one of his own compositions as an encore to a greatful audience which did not want him to end his performance ... his simple work base on a Sri Lankan folksong. The piece was charming and delightful.

Abeyaratne is on the faculty of Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio - they are lucky to have him, and those who attended his recital at Jacksonville University know precisely why.

Just follow the link to MSN music in LINKS at left to hear and download music from Watkins' debut solo disc.