Martha Watson Violett

Martha Watson Violett is Emeritus Professor of Music at Western Colorado University where she currently teaches piano and class piano and remains active as soloist and chamber musician with Western faculty and guest artists. Since beginning her teaching career at Western in 1972 she has also taught music history, theory, and general education music courses and was Chair of the Music Department 1993-2010.

She received her undergraduate degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa with additional study at the University of Washington. As recipient of a Fulbright scholarship she studied piano and chamber music at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany, 1970-72. A special interest in the music of Spain’s composers inspired research, performance and lecture-recitals of the Spanish piano repertoire of the past three centuries and her doctoral dissertation on the solo piano music of the Catalonian composer, Xavier Montsalvatge. She was invited to present a recital of Montsalvatge’s music in Barcelona in 1993 as one of many celebratory concerts in honor of his eightieth birthday.

Martha is a member of the Montrose Music Teachers Association and has received the Professional National Certification of Teachers of Music from the Music Teachers National Association. In 2018 she received a Top Music Teacher award from Steinway & Sons and Schmitt Music and in September 2021 she was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame, a prestigious designation recognizing the work of North America’s most committed and passionate piano educators.

She enjoys reading and spending time outside in Gunnison but also loves to travel and see the world on foot.