Watkins is active not only as a composer, but also as a respected pianist in both jazz and classical circles. A native of Denver, Colorado, she was graduated from Howard University with a degree in music composition in Washington, D.C. in 1972. She established herself as a working jazz pianist there before moving to the west coast. Her musical style as a composer is eclectic, encompassing such diverse elements as country/folk, gospel, blues and pop. In addition to compositions for symphony orchestra and chamber orchestra, she also has worked in film and the theatre. She is known for her unusual jazz adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker (The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie) and her musical score for a play based upon the life of the immortal saxophonist, Lester Young.
Soul of Remembrance is the second movement from the 1994 orchestral suite, Five Movements in Color. Commissioned by the Camellia Orchestra in Sacramento, California, it is intended by Watkins as a “statement about the African-American experience.” Its lush string textures, funereal tempo, and expressive melodic lines are an eloquent paean to lingering memories of the tragedy of the African Diaspora and its aftermath.
--Wm. E. Runyan
©2020 William E. Runyan
Watkins is active not only as a composer, but also as a respected pianist in both jazz and classical circles. A native of Denver, Colorado, she was graduated from Howard University with a degree in music composition in Washington, D.C. in 1972. She established herself as a working jazz pianist there before moving to the west coast. Her musical style as a composer is eclectic, encompassing such diverse elements as country/folk, gospel, blues and pop. In addition to compositions for symphony orchestra and chamber orchestra, she also has worked in film and the theatre. She is known for her unusual jazz adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker (The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie) and her musical score for a play based upon the life of the immortal saxophonist, Lester Young.
Soul of Remembrance is the second movement from the 1994 orchestral suite, Five Movements in Color. Commissioned by the Camellia Orchestra in Sacramento, California, it is intended by Watkins as a “statement about the African-American experience.” Its lush string textures, funereal tempo, and expressive melodic lines are an eloquent paean to lingering memories of the tragedy of the African Diaspora and its aftermath.
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