Andrew Watts

Andrew A. Watts is a composer of chamber, symphonic, multimedia, and electro-acoustic works regularly performed throughout North America and Europe. His compositions have been premiered at world-renowned venues such as Ravinia, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Boston's famed Jordan Hall and the Museum of Fine Arts; NYC’s The Kitchen; the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt; and the Holywell Music Room, the oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe. He has written works for several top musicians and ensembles including Ensemble Dal Niente, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, Proton Bern, Distractfold Ensemble, RAGE Thormbones, Splinter Reeds, Quince Vocal Ensemble, Line Upon Line Percussion, soprano Tony Arnold, and cellist Séverine Ballon.

Andrew completed his doctorate at Stanford University, studying with Brian Ferneyhough, Chris Chafe, and Jaroslaw Kapuscinski; received his master's with distinction from Oxford University; and his bachelor's with academic honors from the New England Conservatory. Andrew teaches an annual summer workshop entitled “Algorithmic Composition with Max/MSP and OpenMusic” at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Furthermore, he has given guest lectures on his compositional practice at Harvard, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, CalArts, Ithaca College, and other leading music programs. He is currently a Lecturer in Music Composition at the University of California Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies.