Pianist André Watts dies at age 77 of prostate cancer

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Pianist André Watts, whose televised debut with the New York Philharmonic as a 16-year-old in 1963 launched an international career of more than a half-century, has died. He was 77. His manager said that Watts died Wednesday at his home in Bloomington, Indiana, of prostate cancer. Watts joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2004. Watts made his New York Philharmonic debut in a Young People’s Concert led by music director Leonard Bernstein on Jan. 12, 1963. He was nominated for five Grammy Awards and received a 2011 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal from then-President Barack Obama.