Lyndon Watts, bassoon

Australian bassoonist Lyndon Watts won the principal position in the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in 1998 at the age of 22. Lyndon began learning bassoon in 1988, and from 1992 to 1993 worked casually with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and won numerous prizes at competitions in Australia, including solo performances with the Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. In 1994 he commenced his studies with Eberhard Marschall at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich , completing his Masters with distinction in 2000. In 1997 Lyndon was the only bassoonist in the history of the competition to become overall winner of the international "Pacem in Terris" woodwind competition in Bayreuth. In 2000 he was awarded the Yamaha Scholarship for Woodwind Instruments, which he used to begin playing baroque bassoon, studying from 2001 to 2005 with Alberto Grazzi in Verona. In 2002 he became the first Australian woodwind player to win a prize in the over 50 year history of the International ARD (German Radio) Music Competition, where he received third prize and a special award for the best interpretation of the commissioned work by Heinz Holliger. Recordings followed with Bavarian Radio, Southwest German Radio and North German Radio on both baroque and modern bassoons. Lyndon has performed as soloist with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Biel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland. At the 2004 conference of the IDRS (International Double Reed Society), which took place for the first time in the history of the society in Australia, he performed as soloist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

In 2002 he began teaching at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, and since October 2005 he has been professor of bassoon at Berne University of the Arts. Aside from regular courses in Switzerland and Germany, Lyndon has also given international recitals and masterclasses in England, Portugal, Japan, China, Korea, Singapore and Australia .