Joe Blog

Popular South African pianist Michael Watt will present a virtuosic programme for the 2025 St Francis Music Festival. His programme will feature the demanding Brahms/Paganini Variations Opus 35, and three movements from Stravinsky’s Petrushka. South African composer Clare Loveday’s Etude 2 will be another one of Michael’s offerings. Enrique Granados’ Escenas Romanticas Nos 4, 5, and 6 will bring the audience into the late romantic era of music with Michael’s passionate interpretation.

Michael Watt has been an active educator and musician for more than two decades. His broad range of interests and skills grow out of a fascination with creative communication in multiple disciplines and media. It was while studying architecture that Michael’s piano performance career began taking off, which motivated him to make the shift to a degree in music performance. While an undergraduate, Michael performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist in concerts, broadcasts and theatre shows across South Africa. His focus on piano performance took him to the UK where he was able to build piano technique through touring, performing, and collaborating on performance projects. After returning to South Africa, Michael completed a MA and shifted focus to education before founding The Imagination Lab in 2023, an online arts education initiative offering competitive, skill-based performance and visual arts courses through intensive coaching. Michael is passionate about developing creative performing musicians who will grow into globally minded performers and thinkers who challenge the boundaries of what is possible.