Andrew Watts

Biography

Few countertenors have pushed the boundaries of repertoire and sound more than Andrew Watts. A dramatic voice unlike any other with extraordinary stagecraft and presence make him a unique performer not only of roles traditionally associated with the voice type, but also a pioneer of 20th and 21st-century repertoire.  For example, the role of Edgar in Reiman’s Lear, which he has performed at Staatsoper Hamburg, Opéra National de Paris, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich and Teatro Real Madrid.
As well as singing core roles of the countertenor repertoire, he has performed over 60 world premieres at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival, La Scala, La Fenice, Staatsoper Berlin, Opera de Lyon, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Berliner Philharmoniker, and at the Salzburg, Bregenz, Lucerne, Aldeburgh and Edinburgh International Festivals, as well as the Ruhrtriennale and the BBC Proms. He has created roles in major works by Harrison Birtwistle, Olga Neuwirth, Unsuk Chin, Nuñez, Guarnieri, Raymond Yiu, Michael Finnissey, Judith Weir, Torsten Rasch, Tansy Davies, and Elena Langer.

Having performed Keyframes for a Hippogriff already with the Berlin Philharmonic and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, recent highlights also include Neuwirth’s The Outcast at the Philharmonie de Paris, Prince Go-Go in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre for Wiener Staatsoper, at the Enescu Festival and with Orchestra national de France, and Lear at Teatro Real Madrid and Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, where he also sang Orlofsky in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Die Fledermaus. 

This season Andrew will make his debut at the Longborough Festival in Avner Dorman's Wahnfried and performs Olga Neuwirth's 'Hommage a Klaus Nomi' at the Casa da Musica, Porto and a recital at the Wigmore Hall.  Next season Andrew sings in the world premiere of Pascal Dusepin's  “Antigone” in the Philharmonie, Paris, reprises one of his signature roles of the White Rabbit in Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland at the Theater an der Wien, and sings the role of Mickey in the world premiere of Olga Newwirth’s new opera Monster’s Paradise at Staatsoper Hamburg, Oper Zurich and Oper Graz.

Andrew Watts is General and Artistic Director of the International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch (IVC) and Founder and Artistic Director of Max, Musician and Artist Exchange. Andrew has a busy private studio and is visiting voice teacher to the International Opera Studio at the Berlin Staatsoper and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.