Ken Watson

Ken Watson is a free-lance oboist and composer/arranger. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition from Southern Methodist University in 1974. While in school he composed and directed the recording of the score for a short documentary film, Sometimes I Run, which went on to win a 6-state film competition. After graduation he served as a member of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, for two and a half years. In 1976 he became a regular Marine line officer and went on to fly A-6E Intruder and EA-6B Prowler jets. He also produced the Command and Control Warfare family of doctrine textbooks for the Marine Corps, and served as an electronic warfare/information warfare specialist on senior staffs, retiring from the Marine Corps in 1997 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Ken had a second career with Cisco Systems, creating and managing its Critical Infrastructure Protection team. He retired from Cisco in 2011.
 
Ken has played with the Austin, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio, Texas symphonies, as well as Associate Principal Oboe in the Okinawa Symphony. His current composition focus is to expand the repertoire for double-reed solos and ensembles and for concert/symphonic bands. Ken's Suite for Oboe and Jazz Piano Trio was premiered in New York City in August 2014. More recently, he conducted the partial premiere of his Missa Jubilate Deo with the choir of the Episcopal Church of the Advent of Spartanburg, SC at the Lincoln Cathedral, England, in July 2016. “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band premiered his Concerto for Bassoon in February 2017. That year he also completed two suites for band: Simple Songs, an adaptation of the Mass; and Lake Barcroft Haiku, illustrating aspects of life in the Northern Virginia neighborhood of Lake Barcroft.

Ken studied composition with Alvin Epstein and Thom Mason, and oboe with Evelyn McCarty, Don Baker, and Eric Barr.