Howard Watkins is a native of Dayton, Ohio where he began his piano studies at the age of eight. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Dayton as a scholarship student of Hungarian emigre Tibor Szasz. He was the holder of the Albert Lockwood Memorial Fellowship at the University of Michigan where he studied with Professors Charles Fisher and Martin Katz, receiving the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance in 1989. Mr. Watkins was a winner in the Graduate Concerto Competition and was a soloist with the University of Michigan Orchestra.
Mr. Watkins is a much sought-after collaborative pianist whose work in this capacity has taken him throughout North and South America, Europe, the former Soviet Union, and the Far East. He has performed in master classes and recitals for such artists as Josef Gingold, Misha Dichter, George Shirley, Lynn Harrell, John Perry, Yehuda Hanani, and Kim Kashkashian.
For three years he was a member of the accompanying faculty of the Meadowmount School of Music in New York State, and he occupied a similar position at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. He complete his doctoral degree in April 1998 in the Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music Program, where he studied with Professors Martin Katz and Anton Nel. He has also coached singers at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada.
In May 1998, Mr. Watkins was awarded a coaching position at the Metropolitan Opera as part of their Artist Development Program.