André Watts to perform in our neighborhood

André Watts may be one of the most familiar classical pianists in the world — in part thanks to Mr. Rogers.

No stranger to TV, Watts paid a visit to "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" in the 1980s. It's still visible on YouTube.

"That was extraordinary," recalls Watts, 63, of the broadcast. On the show, he performed Chopin's "Revolutionary Étude" with overwhelming authority and passion, and earned a hug from Fred Rogers himself.

"That has had such a long life," Watts says. "Kids who saw it then have children who are just seeing it now. It was great to meet Fred and become friends. I just spent time in Florida with his widow, Joanne."

Speaking by phone from Bloomington, Ind., where he teaches "piano to a couple of students" at Indiana University, Watts has been impressing multiple generations since 1967. He will appear with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at Benaroya Hall this coming Thursday through Sunday, performing Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto.

More than 40 years of traveling as a soloist has had its ups and downs.

"Missed planes, bad hotels, laundry on the road, clothes destroyed," he says. "It's a glorified vagabond existence. The payoff is that the music gets more compelling to play."

Watts was introduced to a national television audience by Leonard Bernstein in 1963. Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic on a taped, CBS broadcast of the orchestra's long-running "Young People's Concerts" series, featuring a 16-year-old Watts performing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1.

Bernstein later invited Watts to fill in for an ailing Glenn Gould in a live appearance with the Philharmonic. Watts played the same Liszt piece and subsequently recorded it with Bernstein and the orchestra on his album debut.

"I couldn't play the Liszt quite as well after that," Watts says. "Bernstein pulled musicians up beyond their limit."

Watts says working with different orchestras and conductors today remains "fun and exciting." He knows Seattle Symphony's Gerard Schwarz well, and looks forward to playing the Grieg piece at Benaroya. It's "easily accessible," he says. "Grieg really does capture the fjords, mountains and sea in Norway."

But he also enjoys working with new artists that can bring a different perspective.

"Someone will say, you know, I studied such-and-such, or I saw this old letter, and do you think we should ... etc. How cool is that?"