IU pianist receives highest presidential arts award in U.S.

Eminent classical pianist André Watts, the Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music at the Jacobs School of Music, has been chosen as a recipient for the 2011 National Medal of Arts.

The award was established by Congress in 1984 and is considered the highest honor given to artists by the U.S. government.

Throughout the past 27 years, nearly 300 individuals and groups in the fields of literary, performing and visual arts have been honored.

No more than 12 recipients are chosen every year, and so far, seven recipients have been chosen in 2012.

Painter and printmaker Will Barnet , poet and author Rita Dove, actor and director Al Pacino, contemporary arts patron and philanthropist Emily Rauh Pulitzer, sculptor Martin Puryear and singer-songwriter Mel Tillis have been chosen.

President Barack Obama presented awards to the recipients Feb. 13 in the East Room of the White House.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, hundreds of nominations are submitted every year by individuals and organizations across the country for consideration by its advisory body, the National Council on the Arts.

The council and presidential office select individuals or groups they believe deserve special recognition for their contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.

Watts began his career at age 16, when he was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to debut with the New York Philharmonic.

At age 26, the Emmy nominee became the youngest person to receive an honorary doctorate from Yale University and, at 42, he received the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize.

In an illustrious career that spans four decades, Watts has performed with a slew of renowned orchestras.

He has also participated in multiple recitals, broadcasts and recordings that have won him top honors from organizations around the world.  

According to a press release, Jacobs Dean Gwyn Richards said the school is proud of Watts’ achievement and celebrate the honor with him.

“As one of the world’s most celebrated pianists and teachers, we cherish André’s deep commitment to guiding a new generation of talented musicians in Bloomington,”  Richards said.

— Amelia Chong