Elaine Hoffman Watts

Elaine Hoffman Watts (May 25, 1932 – September 25, 2017[1]) was a klezmer drummer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Elaine Hoffman Watts
Watts in 2007
Background information
Born(1932-05-25)May 25, 1932
DiedSeptember 25, 2017(2017-09-25) (aged 85)
GenresKlezmer
Occupation(s)Musician, educator
Instrument(s)Drums, percussion

Biography

Watts came from a line of klezmer musicians from what is now Ukraine and was the daughter of Jacob Hoffman,[2] a klezmer xylophone player and bandleader from the 1920s who also played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ballets Russes Orchestra. Her daughter Susan Watts is a klezmer trumpet player and an important figure in the klezmer revival.

In 1954, Elaine Hoffman Watts was the first woman percussionist to be accepted and graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.[1]

Beginning in 1998, she was a percussion teacher at KlezKamp, and she taught percussion in the Philadelphia area beginning in the mid-1960s. She was a recipient of a 2007 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[3]

References
  1. Cook, Bonnie L. (September 17, 2017). "Elaine Hoffman Watts, 85, who performed klezmer folk music". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  2. "Elaine Hoffman Watts: Klezmer musician". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. n.d. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  3. "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2007". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
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