Cliburn at the Bass welcomes legendary pianist André Watts

December 19, 2007

For immediate release
Cliburn at the Bass welcomes legendary pianist André Watts
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.

André Watts has something rare among pianists-a sort of hotline between the inner passions and the keyboard....- New York Times

FORT WORTH, TEXAS, December 19, 2007 -- Cliburn at the Bass proudly welcomes André Watts, one of today's most celebrated and beloved pianists, to Fort Worth on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 7:30 in Bass Performance Hall (4th and Calhoun Streets, downtown Fort Worth).

André Watts was the first classical artist to make his television debut on the Young People's Concerts series with Leonard Bernstein and then with the New York Philharmonic in 1963. He has since become a classical sensation.

Mr. Watts was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in June 2006, and currently serves on the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He frequently performs around the world, recently playing on tour with the Bergen Philharmonic of Norway, conducted by former Dallas Symphony Orchestra artistic director Andrew Litton.

Mr. Watts' Cliburn at the Bass program will be dedicated to the works of Schubert and Beethoven, including Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy and Beethoven's Sonata Op. 10, No. 3. (See the complete program below.)

TICKETS AND INFORMATION: Single tickets to Cliburn Concerts performances range from $15 to $90. Tickets are available for purchase online at ww w.centralti cketoffice.com or by calling 817.335.9000. More information is available at www.cliburn.org.

ExxonMobil is the Principal Corporate Sponsor of the Van Cliburn Foundation. American Airlines, Bank of America, City of Fort Worth, Eastman Kodak Company, JPMorgan Chase, Star- Telegram, Steinway & Sons, and XTO Energy Inc. are Official Corporate Sponsors, and Clear Channel Communications and RadioShack are the Cliburn's Corporate Sponsors. Official Sponsors are the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, The Burnett Foundation, Once Upon a Time..., and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Star-Telegram is the principal media partner and WRR 101.1 FM is the official radio station of Cliburn Concerts.

André Watts, pianist
André Watts burst into the music world at the age of sixteen when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in its Young People's Concerts series, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Only two weeks later, Mr. Bernstein asked him to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt's E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career in storybook fashion. More than forty-five years later, André Watts remains one of today's most celebrated and beloved classical superstars. His performances each year with the world's great orchestras and conductors and his sold-out recitals and appearances at the most prestigious international festivals take him to every corner of the globe.

During the 2006-2007 season, Mr. Watts celebrated his sixtieth birthday and the fiftieth anniversary of his debut (with the Philadelphia Orchestra). In honor of this milestone and his numerous achievements and contributions to the world of classical music, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in June 2006. During that special season, Mr. Watts performed with various American orchestras with which he has had close relationships for many years, including the Philadelphia Orchestra in Philadelphia and Carnegie Hall; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and the Atlanta, St. Louis, National, Indianapolis, Seattle, and Milwaukee Symphonies. During the 2007- 2008 season, he makes an eleven-city tour of the East Coast with the Bergen Philharmonic, which includes a concert at Carnegie Hall and a recital tour in Japan.

In addition to his regular visits to the major summer music festivals, including Ravinia, Tanglewood, Saratoga, the Mann Music Center, Mostly Mozart, and the Hollywood Bowl, André Watts' recent engagements include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, and Cincinnati Symphonies; a tour with the Israel Philharmonic with performances in Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta; a Carnegie Hall appearance with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; and a European tour with the Baltimore Symphony.

Mr. Watts has had a long and frequent association with television, having appeared on numerous programs produced by PBS, the BBC, and A&E, where he has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, among others. His 1976 New York recital on Live from Lincoln Center was the first full- length recital broadcast in the history of television. His performance at the thirty-eighth Casals Festival in Puerto Rico was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cultural Programming. Mr. Watts' most recent television appearances are with the Philadelphia Orchestra on the occasion of the orchestra's 100th Anniversary Gala and a performance of the Brahms Concerto No.2 with the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz conducting, for PBS.

Mr. Watts' extensive discography includes recordings of works by Gershwin, Chopin, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky for CBS Masterworks; recital CDs of works by Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, and Chopin for Angel/EMI; and recordings featuring the concertos of Liszt, MacDowell, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Saëns on the Telarc label. He is also included in the Great Pianists of the 20th Century series for Philips.

A much-honored artist who has played before royalty in Europe and heads of government in nations all over the world, André Watts was selected to receive the Avery Fisher Prize in 1988. At age twenty-six he was the youngest person ever to receive an honorary doctorate from Yale University and he has since received numerous such honors from other highly respected schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, Brandeis University, Trinity College, and the Juilliard School of Music. In 1984 his alma mater, the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, honored Mr. Watts with its Distinguished Alumni Award, and in May 1997 Peabody again recognized his accomplishments by presenting him with an honorary doctorate degree. Previously artist-in-residence at the University of Maryland, Mr. Watts was appointed to the newly created Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music at Indiana University in May 2004.

Program

SCHUBERT
Impromptu in B-flat major, D. 935, No. 3

BEETHOVEN
Sonata in D major, Op. 10, No. 3

SCHUBERT
Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946

BEETHOVEN
Thirty-two Variations on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 80

SCHUBERT
Fantasy in C major, D. 760 "Wanderer"

Contact: Sevan Melikyan Dir. of P.R.
email: sevan@cliburn.org
phone: 817.738.6536
web: http://www.cliburn.org