School of Music welcomes new faculty for fall

The IU School of Music will be adding two new faculty members.\nCelebrated pianists Arnaldo Cohen and Andre Watts will begin teaching at IU in the fall. Watts has been selected to fill the new Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in music.\nWatts began his career as a musician in 1963 at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to debut with the New York Philharmonic, which was broadcast on CBS. Soon he began to perform concerts and recitals at festivals and on television. \nWatts has also performed for royalty and heads of state. He received the Avery Fisher prize in 1988. He became the youngest person to receive an honorary doctorate from Yale University and has since earned many other awards and honors. He spent four years as artist-in-residence at the University of Maryland before deciding to come to IU.\n"It seemed to be the right thing at the right moment," he said. "(IU) is known worldwide as a great institution."\nBrazilian-born pianist Arnaldo Cohen will also join the IU School of Music faculty in the fall. Cohen began playing piano at the age of five. The child of Persian and Russian immigrants, Cohen won the Busoni Piano Competition in Italy in 1972. \nCohen burst onto the world scene when he replaced Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich at a concert in Amsterdam. Since that time, he has performed with numerous renowned groups in the United States, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra. At press time, Cohen could not be reached for comment.\nThe addition of the new faculty members is being met with much excitement at the School of Music.\n"This is an exceptional day, to say the least, for Indiana University, the School of Music and the city of Bloomington," said School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards in a press release. "The appointment of musicians of such outstanding caliber is a tribute to our school, our faculty and our reputation as a worldwide leader in music education and performance. We are delighted and honored that André and Arnaldo have chosen Bloomington as the place to continue their distinguished careers and look forward to them greatly enhancing the artistic lives of our students."\nEvelyne Brancart, chair of the Piano Department, agrees with Richards.\n"I am absolutely delighted to welcome these two wonderful individuals," she said in a press release. "They are not only on top of the pianistic and musical world, but they are both great human beings."\n-- Contact staff writer Jenny Kobiela at jkobiela@indiana.edu.