Photo: Hanya Chlala

Huw Watkins

Huw Watkins has been described by The Independent on Sunday as "a pianist of alert intelligence and a composer with something to say".

Huw has given premieres of works by Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, Mark-Anthony Turnage and John Woolrich and his concerto engagements have included the Northern Sinfonia, Grace Williams's Sinfonia Concertante with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and his own Piano Concerto (2002) with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Martyn Brabbins.

Huw also works regularly with the Britten Sinfonia and with artists including Daniel Hope, Nicholas Daniel, Alina Ibragimova, Alexandra Wood, Lawrence Power and his brother Paul Watkins.

Born in Wales in 1976, Huw studied piano with Peter Lawson at Chetham's School of Music, and composition with Robin Holloway, Alexander Goehr and Julian Anderson at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music.

Huw's compositions have been commissioned, performed and recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Nash Ensemble, Belcea and Petersen quartets. His Sonata for Cello and Eight Instruments has been performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in London, Paris, Copenhagen and Aldeburgh, under the direction of Sakari Oramo and Peter Rundel. Future commissions include works for Lawrence Power, Mark Padmore and the Petersen Quartet and he is a Jerwood-Associate Composer with Music Theatre Wales.

Huw has made a number of recordings including Thomas Adès' song cycle The Lover in Winter with Robin Blaze for EMI Classics and Goehr's Symmetry Disorders Reach for Wergo. He is Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music London.

Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Emily Good