Dr. Valerie Watts

Dr. Valerie Watts

Professor of Music (Flute)
Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies & Scholarships

Office: Catlett Music Center 206
Email: vwatts@ou.edu

VALERIE WATTS is professor of flute at the University of Oklahoma, School of Music, and principal flute with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra. Her appointment at the University of Oklahoma includes membership of its resident faculty quintet, The Oklahoma Woodwind Quintet. During the summers, Dr. Watts has taught at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute (1995-2006) and continues to perform as principal flute with the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra since 1998. A finalist for the 1993 Festivales Internacionales de Flautistas Enterprises, Dr. Watts has been the featured performer at festivals abroad (Classic Music Seminar, Eisentstadt, Austria; Natal, Brazil; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada and American Music Festival, Geneva, Switzerland) and performed solo and chamber music engagements as well in the United States (California, New Hampshire, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and South Carolina). She was the artist-in-residence at Xu Beihong, School of the Arts, Remni University in Beijing, China (October 2006). In 2001, she was featured on a concert promoting music by Oklahoman composers performing Michael Hennagin’s Sonata for Flute and Piano at the National Flute Association convention in Dallas, Texas. In 2012, she performed again at the NFA convention in Las Vegas, Nevada to honor her mentor Bonita Boyd, recipient of the NFA Lifetime Achievement Award. Most recently, she performed as solo flutist Concerto for flute and Strings, op. 137 by Jack Frederick Kilpatrick (a Native American and Oklahoman composer) with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. An enthusiastic student of early music performance practice, Dr. Watts was granted a fellowship to attend the 1994 Bach Aria Festival and Institute at Stony Brook, NY. She has recorded with CBS Masterworks, Integra and W.W. Norton labels. Education: bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Northwestern University School of Music and MM and DMA degrees, including the Performer’s Certificate, from the Eastman School of Music.

• MM, DMA, and Performer's Certificate - Eastman School of Music
• BM - Northwestern University, summa cum laude