Jamaica's history - always something new to find out!
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      • Sam Sharpe - a note 1831
      • PKB Memorial Fund
      • Mrs Seacole & Queen Emma
      • 1891 Exhibition
      • All but unique: H. A. Joseph
      • Three Historic Buildings
      • Andrew Bogle
      • Jamaican politics 1866-1920
  • people
    • - 'ordinary' people >
      • 'extraordinary' lives >
        • Marie Francis
        • William Henry Hinson
        • James H Blackwood >
          • teacher
          • politician
          • bee-farmer
          • Human Rights activist
    • remarkable families >
      • family of C E Moody >
        • Harold Moody
        • Elise Moody
        • Charles Aston Moody
        • Ludlow Moody
        • Ronald Moody
        • Locksley Moody
      • family of R M Nicholas
      • family of C A D Phang >
        • Rosalind
        • May
        • Hilda
      • family of H B Phillips
      • family of A T Stewart
    • in the churches >
      • George Fox and early Friends >
        • 1692 and beyond
      • Rev. S. J. Washington
      • Rev. W. Theo Bailey
      • Rev. E. E. Brown
      • Rev. I. N. D. Gordon
      • Rev. J. J. Fuller
      • Church of England >
        • Rev. Francis Humberstone
        • Rev. J. M. Trew
        • Edward Maunde Thompson
        • Rev. R. Gordon
        • Rev Dr Hugh Croskery
        • Rev. T. Banbury
        • Rev. R. O. Taylor
        • Rev. H. L. Phillips >
          • as an Episcopalian priest
        • Rev. C. C. Douce
        • Rev. A. Cole
        • A. L. "Teacher" Walcott
        • Rev. and Mrs W. A. Burris
        • Rev. W. L. Brown
      • the Moravians >
        • Rev. W. V. Moses
    • in education >
      • brief lives >
        • Thomas Terence Sherlock
      • Francis Williams
      • ~ Woodlawn 1896
      • Matthew Josephs
      • T. B. Stephenson
      • Robert Lindsay
      • W Thomas Linton
      • S. C. Thompson
      • W. H. Plant
      • Sigismund C. Walker
      • Thomas I. Brown
      • E. Luther Brookes
    • in legal professions >
      • Peter Moncrieffe
      • J. T. Palache
      • A. A. Fleming
      • H. R. Walters
      • H. A. Joseph
      • M. H. Spencer Joseph
      • J. L. King
    • in medical professions >
      • - doctors >
        • Sampson Altman
        • J. J. Edwards
        • A. J. Thomas
        • R. M. Stimpson
        • E. C. Kinkead
        • E. V. Smith
        • T. A. Dryden
        • Cicely Williams
        • Roderick Atkinson
        • - in the U.S.A. >
          • Simeon I. Battiste
          • David Newton Emanuel Campbell >
            • portable window fire-escape ladder
          • A. E. Forsyth
      • - dentists >
        • Pedro Pompey
        • A. T. Cooper
        • E. E. Clark
        • J. H. Nicholson
      • - dispensers >
        • Anthan F Berry
        • Charles E Moody
      • - nurses
      • - psychiatrists
    • in politics & public affairs >
      • early Black politicians [slideshow]
      • Edward Jordon
      • Jim Russell >
        • the 'Great War'
      • Colonel George Hicks
      • Samuel Page Smeeton
    • in business >
      • drogher/droguer women
      • Edward Vickars
      • Charles Phillip Lazarus >
        • Charles Philip Lazarus remembered
        • foundry >
          • - 'City of Kingston'
          • - Jamaica Cycle Company
        • building contracts
        • politics and public affairs >
          • 1909 Party of Progress
      • J. H. & J. O. Milke
      • beekeepers >
        • Hill/Darwin correspondence
      • Robert Mitchell Nicholas
      • Joseph Milward Gordon >
        • Gall's News Letter 1890
      • John Cassis
      • Jacob Hume Stewart
      • Christopher L Barnes
      • Ernest Clarke
      • Lance E. Drysdale
    • on the land >
      • John S. Levy
    • in sports >
      • athletics >
        • Alfred Reynolds Downer >
          • education
          • athletics career >
            • - amateur
            • - professional
          • . . . but after that
      • boxing
      • chess >
        • Arthur Ford Mackenzie >
          • tributes
      • cricket >
        • J. K. Holt, snr
        • S C Snow
        • O. C. 'Tommy' Scott
      • cycling >
        • Johnnie Weir
        • A. A. "Bill" Johnson
        • Washington 'Teacher' Battiste
      • football
      • horse racing
      • tennis
    • Maroons in Jamaica >
      • Gleaner references
      • 1796 Richard Brinsley Sheridan
      • 1802 Maria, Lady Nugent
      • 1836 Popular Encyclopedia
      • 1844 Edwin Tregellies
      • 1844 Philip Henry Gosse
      • 1859 Richard Hill
      • 1860 Atlantic Monthly
      • 1862 Edward Cust
      • 1865 Col. Fyfe
      • 1865 Once a Week
      • 1866 Charles Town Maroons
      • 1867 Trip to the Tropics
      • 1890 Historical Geography
      • 1898 New York Tribune
      • 1898 Edith, Lady Blake
      • my articles: >
        • 1996 'Trouble with the Maroons'
        • 2001 'A brave and loyal people'
    • . . . some more Jamaicans
    • and even more
  • places
    • Kingston & St Andrew >
      • various places >
        • Knutsford Pen
      • street corner cannons
      • the Old H-W-T Courthouse >
        • four 18th century houses >
          • Hibbert House >
            • Hibbert House - over time
          • Constantine House
          • Bull House >
            • Peter Blaise Desnoes
            • North Street Villa
          • Harmony Hall
        • 19th century
      • Kingston Market
      • Kingston Race Course >
        • Pratter's/Prater's Pond
      • Retreat Pen >
        • Peter Alexander Espeut >
          • P A Espeut interview
      • Waireka >
        • a trip to 'Wareka' 1896
      • Park Lodge >
        • Susan and Mary Burton >
          • Mount Mansfield
      • Date Tree Hall >
        • Blundell/Blundle Hall
        • Barkly/Clarendon Hall
      • the Parade >
        • - the Church
        • - Barracks
        • - Theatre
        • - Coke Chapel
        • - other buildings
        • Parade Gardens
      • Harbour Street >
        • The Treasury >
          • the Treasury clock
        • Streadwick's Marine Gardens
        • Breezy Castle
      • Up Park Camp
      • Admiral's Pen
      • Rockford Gardens
      • "Babbin's" Church
    • other parishes >
      • Old Harbour
      • Bog Walk Gorge
      • Fern Gully
      • Moneague Lakes
      • Colbeck Castle
      • Blue Mountain Estate
    • Botanical Gardens >
      • Wallen's Cold Spring
  • institutions
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      • elementary & all-age schools >
        • West Branch
        • Miss Knibb's School, Falmouth
      • secondary schools >
        • Collegiate School >
          • 1850s & '60s
          • 1870s
          • 1880s
          • 1890s
          • 1900 & after
          • headmasters
          • alumni
          • cricket
        • Potsdam
        • York Castle
        • Mary Villa College
        • Kingston High School for Girls
        • Kingston Technical High School
      • tertiary institutions >
        • 'the Mico'
        • Montego Bay Academy
        • University College
        • Kingston Commercial College
    • culture >
      • Victoria Institute >
        • - 'Victoria Quarterly'
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      • boxing
      • cricket >
        • Kingston Cricket Club
        • Clovelly Cricket Club
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      • tennis
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      • constabulary
      • West India Regiments
  • the arts
    • theatre >
      • Kingston's theatres >
        • Kingston Theatre
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        • new Theatre Royal
        • Aaron Mendes Sollas >
          • Joshua A M Sollas
          • the Sollas family in Jamaica
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        • Rudolph De Cordova
      • the comic tradition >
        • the Murray family >
          • H. G. Murray
          • A. C. Murray
          • W. C. Murray
          • legacy
          • Dr R. O. Murray
        • Lionel Trim
      • magic >
        • Prof. W. A. Barclay
    • magic lantern & beyond
    • literature
    • music and dance >
      • the classical musicians >
        • - Eleanor Alberga
        • ~ Neville Atkinson
        • - Nerine Barrett
        • - Richard Beckford
        • - Harold St Nicholas Cartier
        • - Frederic H. Cowen
        • - Noel DaCosta
        • - Louis Drysdale
        • - Samuel Felsted
        • - Maxine Franklin
        • - George and Hilda Goode
        • - David Johns
        • - John Lyon
        • - Marie McMarrow
        • - Edmund Reid
        • - Orrett Rhoden
        • - Oswald Russell
        • - Paul Shaw
        • - Don Shirley
        • - Stephen Tucker
        • - George Walker
        • - Curtis Watson
        • - Willard White
      • Jamaica Choir
      • 'practice dances'
    • art >
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        • Zithri J Atkinson >
          • Bruce Grit article
        • Frederic E Church
      • sculpture
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  • events
    • & everything else >
      • - manumissions
      • - drugs >
        • - tobacco
        • - opium
        • - cocaine
        • - cannabis >
          • 1913 legislation
    • public holidays >
      • crop-over
      • May 24th
      • June 7 >
        • Port Royal 1667
        • Great Earthquake 1692
      • August 1st >
        • 1888 - 50 years
      • Christmas >
        • 18th century
        • 19th century >
          • Christmas with Belisario
          • Christmas in Kingston >
            • - Creole Airs
            • Christmas at the Asylum
          • and across the island
          • Christmas Races
        • early 20th century
        • lotteries & raffles
      • other days >
        • Valentine's Day
        • Mother's Day
    • exhibitions >
      • 1891 >
        • the phonograph
        • merry-go-rounds
        • Amphitrite
      • 1932 >
        • the Exhibition starts >
          • a walk around the Exhibition
        • Exhibition extended
        • Exhibition sports
        • - D T Wint
        • - 'Exhibition' Beecher
        • - W A W Mitchell
        • - L. A. Thoywell-Henry
      • 1934
      • 1946 - Exhibition that wasn't
    • natural disasters >
      • earthquakes >
        • - 1692
        • - 1907 >
          • Kingston burning
          • reports >
            • map
            • - Capt. T. T. Lovelace
          • damage
          • who was Joseph E Thomas?
          • afterwards
        • - smaller 'quakes
      • hurricanes >
        • Jamaica's climate
        • Dampier and hurricanes
        • 18th century >
          • 1780s - hurricane decade
        • 19th century >
          • - 1815
          • 1830s & 1840s
          • 1870s & 1880s
        • 20th century
        • 21st century
      • fires >
        • 1843 >
          • 1843 Colonial Magazine
        • 1862
        • 1875
        • 1882
      • diseases >
        • cholera
        • 'Dandy fever'
        • "Spanish" 'flu
arts  >
music and dance  >
the classical musicians >
Curtis Watson






     Curtis Watson

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   Internationally acclaimed bass-baritone, Curtis Watson has been involved in an extraordinary range of activities apart from singing. These have included acting (named Best Supporting Actor of the Year 1978 – Jamaica National Awards), musical directing, choral conducting, teaching, writing for various publications as well as his hobby, restoring & reproducing antiques, in his spare time!
 

  His career as an opera and concert Singer has been no less varied. He has won acclaim on the opera and concert platforms across a number of cities in Europe, the former Soviet Union, USA, the Caribbean and Japan.

   Curtis Watson studied with the English baritone, Robert Williams and Jamaican soprano Joyce Britton at the Jamaica School of Music, after graduating with honours from Mico Teachers College. He gained a Licentiate from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and was later admitted as Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London.

   At Mico College, he won the Nathan Brisset, Most Improved Student of the Year and Music Student of the Year Awards. In 1996 (the College’s 150th Anniversary) he was honoured for “Distinguished Service to the Development of Music Education in Jamaica.”


   In 1979 Watson was awarded a joint Soviet-Jamaican Government Scholarship to study Opera and Concert Singing at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow, where he studied for three years with Professor Alexander Baturin of the Bolshoi Theatre and three years post-graduate studies with the world famous Russian Bass, Yevgeny Nesterenko.

   In the Soviet Union, Curtis Watson became the first foreigner to win a medal in the GLINKA All Soviet Competition and subsequently received an honorary Diploma from the Ministry of Culture of Glinka’s homeland, Byellorussia.  
Curtis Watson as Count Almaviva in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" in Moscow.
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    In 1994 he won the First Prize at the Mario del Monaco International Opera Competition in Germany and a Diploma in the Belvedere International Opera Competition in Austria. Watson has the distinction of being the only Jamaican, to date, to have won first prize in an International Opera Competition. Locally, he was also the first recipient of the JAMI Award for the Best Classical Male Singer.
   

      His operatic appearances have taken him to numerous theatres in the Soviet Union; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Saddlers Wells;
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith; the Royal Festival and Barbican Halls in England; Wexford Festival Opera, Dublin Grand Opera and Cork Opera House in Ireland; Scottish Opera, in Scotland, Vienna Chamber Opera in Austria, Wiesbaden State Opera in Germany and Little Glyndebourne Theatre in Jamaica.
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   In these houses, he has sung roles in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, “La Forza del Destino”, as Prince Gremen in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" at the Harkov State Opera in Russia “Faust”, “La Tosca”, “Il Trovatore”, “Porgy & Bess”, “Turandot”, “Don Giovanni”, “Amahl & the Night Visitors”, “Rigoletto”, “Koenigskinder”, (Humperdinck), “la Boheme”, “Das Rheingold “, and several leading roles in Russian Operas in the original language.
    In November 1990 following his international success, Watson launched his own showcase, THE CURTIS WATSON AND FRIENDS SHOW, which had its successful Premiere at the Little Theatre in Jamaica. The Show rapidly became a household name, always playing to sold-out houses. Later that year, he founded the Jamaica Festival Opera, directed a new production of “Aida” and “Amahl & the Night Visitors” and became the Artistic Director of the Company.

      His recordings include Mennotti’s “AMAHL & THE NIGHT VISITORS” –TER, Gershwin’s “PORGY & BESS” – EMI, and the World Premiere of David Blake’s “RISE DOVE” with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Groves for the BBC.

   Curtis Watson adds to his list of credits, enthusiastically received Guest Performances in Los Angeles, California, including his debut with The Redlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Jon Robertson.

     A “Travelling Professor,” Dr. Watson conducts Master Classes in Singing in cities around the world during the summer months. He is a distinguished Lecturer in Singing and is well known for his teaching methods in “The Art of Singing” and “A Radical Approach to Sight Singing”.

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[written a decade ago]
< < < George Walker
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Willard White > > >


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