British organist, harpsichordist, pianist, and conductor
Ian Watson is a native of Wooburn Common, Buckinghamshire. At 14 he attended the Royal Academy of Music on a scholarship, and later studied with Flor Peeters in Belgium. He held several positions in London, playing organ at St. Margaret's, Westminster and St. Marylebone Parish Church, and serving as director of music at St. James's, Piccadilly. As a concert artist,
Watson has performed with many orchestras, among them the
London Symphony Orchestra, the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the
English Chamber Orchestra, the
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the
Academy of Ancient Music, and he toured internationally with the
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
Watson has also performed as an accompanist, notably with
Renée Fleming, and he played and conducted a series of
Mozart's piano concertos with the Dalarna Sinfonietta in Sweden. He became artistic director of the Arcadia Players in 2003, and in 2004 he led the
Monteverdi Choir in a performance of
Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine in San Marco, Venice.
Watson is also active as the principal guest conductor of the Karlsbad Baroque in Sweden. He has recorded for Coro, Simax, Virgin Classics, and Hyperion.