Alex Watson, pianist
Alex Watson is Asheville's premier piano performer and collaborator. His demeanor is down-to-earth, personable and facility of the instrument is polished and breathtaking. Mr. Watson supplies more than 25 years of performance experience in solo classical/jazz/sacred, chamber music, vocal accompanying, contemporary ensembles, jazz combo, big band, and studio session artistry. He prides himself in having outstanding music sight-reading abilities and a broad stylistic approach to the instrument. He is from the Eastern North Carolina city of Wilson.
His formal music training included a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, top graduating member of the Armed Forces School of Music in Little Creek, Virginia, and three years attendance at Corso di Musica in Tuscania, Italy and Morges, Switzerland.
Mr. Watson is a guest performer with the Blue Ridge Orchestra, Asheville Jazz Orchestra, and AmiciMusic. He also performs extensively in Western NC as a collaborative artist and solo piano performer. In the studio, Alex records various styles of music as a solo piano artist.
Watson was awarded 6 first place gold medals in the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival Competition in 2015, 2017, and 2018 (classical piano, sacred, pop, jazz, and broadway divisions). In 2017, Alex was invited to perform Glenda Austin's solo piano arrangement of "Amazing Grace" for the NVCAF stage performance in Buffalo, NY.
Alex believes music always respects the quiet moments, delicately breaks the silence and allows room for breath. He finds peace in the instrument and shares its beauty to listeners on stage and in intimate engagements.
"Without community there is no music. Music is meant to be heard. The listeners are equally as important as the players."
-Alex Watson, concert pianist-
Photography by Shisam Productions 2018