Donald Watts is Associate Professor, Coordinator of Music Theory and Musicianship Studies, and Director of Towson’s Master of Music Program. Prof. Watts holds a Ph.D. degree in music theory from the University of Maryland, where he was elected to Phi Kappa Phi. His scholarly interests include the methodological use of tonal hierarchies in ear training, music theory pedagogy, and string pedagogy. His article, “Therapy for Sight Reading Woes”, will appear in a 2008 edition of American String Teacher,andhe has been selected to present a session entitled “The Business of Teaching a Stringed Instrument” at the 2008 national meeting of the American String Teachers Association.  Dr. Watts authored the primary text used in Towson’s Music Theory II-IV courses. He has twice presented papers at national meetings of the Society for Music Theory.

Prof. Watts holds a masters degree in cello from the University of Kansas, where he was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda and was a student of Raymond Stuhl. He later studied with Robert Newkirk at the Catholic University of America. He has appeared as a recitalist on Baltimore’s Cathedral Concert Series, as well as series at Towson University, Salisbury University, and First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, NJ. He has recorded for the Orion and Cycling ’74 labels and has served as principal cellist of the Gettysburg Symphony, Annapolis Opera Theater, and Morris J. Mechanic Theater.  

Prof. Watts has judged Maryland state-level string and orchestra festivals more than twenty times, he has fifty county adjudications to his credit, and he has conducted Maryland Junior All-State Orchestra. He teaches a large private class in Howard County, MD, where his students consistently earn top chairs in regional orchestras.  Prof. Watts lives in Ellicott City, MD, with his wife and two children. 

Office: CA 2094
Phone: 410-704-2819
Email: dwatts@towson.edu