Tristen J. T. Watts

Tristen J. T. Watts (also known by his informal alias 'TJTheComposer'), is a 19-year-old Composer and Musician based in England. From a young age, he enjoyed listening and singing to music played at home. But it was only at the age of approx. two-and-a-half years old that he began to play the violin. Alongside learning the violin by ear, he also began leisurely playing the piano and cello.
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Whilst listening to classical and Christian music was a major part of Tristen's upbringing, being a composer never really crossed his mind until around seven years old, when he heard Beethoven's 5th Symphony for the first time. Not only did this become a favourite symphony in his childhood, Beethoven's music in general became one of his greatest musical influences. His first real-life encounter with composition came at nine years old, whilst studying for an ABRSM Grade 5 Music Theory exam. From then onwards, he would experiment, composing with little melodies, leaving most of them undeveloped after becoming unsatisfied with each attempt. 
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Tristen frequently performed on the violin with his younger brother to audiences across England and was featured several times in concert with international violinist Jamie Jorge. He also performed at a concert in 2016 at the Chiesa Valdese di Torre Pellice in northern Italy. 
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After passing ABRSM Grade 8 violin, piano, and cello, Tristen began to hone his composition skills. Completing two orchestral attempts ('Spring Symphony' & 'Summer Symphony') in 2017, he aimed to create more mature pieces for orchestra but initially found more success with smaller piano works. As he grew older, his musical voyage with the piano continued by way of the ARSM and DipABRSM diplomas. He is currently working on his FTCL (Fellowship) diploma in Classical Piano.

 

In August of 2021, at the age of 17, he started his own YouTube channel to feature his pre-existing small-scale compositions. This step gave him more impetus to write longer and more complex music in the following years. Since then, he has written a dozen piano compositions and six large-scale orchestral works to date, "Joseph in Egypt", "La Résurrection", "The Exodus", "Symphonic Adagio", "Jeremiah" & "The Apocalypse" (a 2–hour long symphonic tone poem). He is currently pursuing further studies in orchestral composition, counterpoint and conducting. He composes Classical/Sacred musical works for various solo instruments (primarily piano), chamber groups and also for full symphony orchestras. His compositions can be found on his YouTube channel (@TJTheComposer). 
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Tristen was commissioned by English Heritage and Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE (Founder of Chineke! Foundation) to write a chamber piece for the 250th Anniversary of the Somerset v Stewart Case. The work was premiered at Kenwood House, London, on 22nd June 2022 by the Chineke! Junior Orchestra. He also had his symphonic tone poem "Jeremiah"  premiered by the Chineke! Junior Orchestra at the iconic Fairfield Concert Hall on the 26th  August 2023, marking the culmination of their annual week-long residential course. Another of his newest orchestral compositions, the "Overture in B flat major 'Majestique'", will be premiered in early 2024 at London's prestigious Royal Festival Hall by the Internationally acclaimed Chineke! Orchestra. 

Tristen's many aspirations include writing a full-length symphony, composing a piano concerto and conducting an orchestra performing one of his large-scale compositions at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.