Date completed: winter 2013

Duration: 7'15"

Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

Recording: 
SONAR New Music Ensemble conducted by Lee Mills in Baltimore, MD

Man With A Black Bag (2013)

Andrew A. Watts is a composer of chamber, symphonic, multimedia, and electro-acoustic works performed worldwide. His compositions have premiered at venues like Burning Man, Ravinia, Jordan Hall, and Holywell Music Room, featuring collaborations with top new music groups such as Dal Niente, Ekmeles, Proton Bern, Distractfold, and Line Upon Line. His recent work, Silicon Valley Requiem, premiered in May 2022.

Watts earned his doctorate from Stanford, master's from Oxford, and bachelor's from the New England Conservatory. His music explores technology, post-human themes, and language desemanticization, often using invented instruments. His treatment of microtonality focuses on evolving material under tight constraints, creating precise surface gestures as impetus for his compositions.

Currently a Lecturer at UC Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies, Watts also teaches a summer workshop on Algorithmic Composition at Stanford's CCRMA.

Man With A Black Bag (2013)

Andrew Watts