Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nathan Watts currently lives in Frankfurt am Main. As a cellist, he is always searching for ways to keep contemporary music and improvisation current and accessible through diverse programming and collaboration. In February 2024, he joined the Mivos String Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to close collaboration with composers and commissioning, premiering, and growing the repertoire of new music. Nathan is also an active member of the Broken Frames Syndicate (BFS) based in Frankfurt am Main. Winners of the 2024 Siemens Ensemble Prize, BFS questions the norm through thematic programming and exploring alternative concert formats. The ensemble recently made its USA debut with a residency at Harvard University and concerts in NYC with Jalalu Kalvert Nelson at Roulette Intermedium and the Zurcher Gallery. A member of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Leaders, Nathan is a co-curator for the Forward Festival, performs in the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, and coaches at the Lucerne Festival Academy. Most recent solo projects include recording the solo cello preludes of Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson, and a self-produced improvisation album inspired by meditations from the bedroom window called “The Invention of Listening”. Deep Listening is a practice that shapes the way he exists as a musician, and creates musical situations that meet the time and place they exist in. Nathan holds a Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Stephen Geber, a Master of Music at Rice University with Desmond Hoebig, and a Masters from the International Ensemble Modern Academy at the HfMDK Frankfurt.