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Photo: Marije van den Berg

Callum Watson born 1997 in Melbourne is an ambassador for young Australian jazz and classical talent, a respected pianist and composer, and a prolific producer spanning across jazz, classical and theatre.

In addition to winning the Margaret Schofield Scholarship for composition, Watson has won a variety of awards and grants including from Melbourne Fringe Festival (2018), state (Creative Victoria, 2019) and local governments (City of Greater Geelong, 2019) and internationally from orkest de ereprijs in the Netherlands (2019).

As a composer, Watson has written original scores for nine theatre productions including one musical having a close ongoing relationship with theatre director Dr David Kelmam (University of Melbourne). Productions have included the critically acclaimed Caliban (2016) premiered at the Malthouse Theatre, and Sheherazade (2014) a major interactive theatre experience staged at Footscray Community Arts Centre.

Watson also commands international attention with a diverse portfolio of concert works. Having been selected to participate in the 25th International Young Composers Meeting in the Netherlands, Watson received the premiere of a short new work for orkest de ereprijs 2019 called An Australian Symphony. In 2019, his chamber work Timely Disarray (2017) for pipe organ, flute and french horn received is premiere at Berliner Originaltöne Festival in Berlin by members of Landesjugendensemble Neue Musik Berlin.

In 2018, Watson curated and presented A Modern Recital in North Melbourne, Victoria featuring Flora Carbo, Joel Hands-Otte and Jessica Zuk exploring ways to make classical music relevant to a contemporary audience. Receiving five star reviews (Weekend Notes, 2018), Watson used the project to premiere a suite of new accessible chamber works including Piano Trio No.1, Playing With Division and One Note Sonata.

As a producer, Callum has worked with some of Victoria's leading artists in both theatre projects and record releases. His latest release Echoes Of Earth (2018) was recorded in the unique acoustic at St Andrews, Brighton Victoria featuring a variety of classical performers. He has a particular interest in promoting promising young talent.

Callum Watson — current to March 2019