Boston Symphony Orchestra And Andris Nelsons Welcome New Contrabassoonist Samuel Watson

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons have announced the appointment of Samuel Watson to the Helen Rand Thayer chair as the orchestra's contrabassoonist.

A Texas native, Watson succeeds former contrabassoonist Gregg Henegar, whose 30-year tenure with the BSO lasted from 1992 to 2022. Watson will first perform with the BSO during the opening night of the 2023–24 season on October 5, featuring works by Beethoven, Mozart, Maskats, and Strauss. 

As an orchestral musician, Watson has worked with acclaimed conductors such as JoAnn Falletta, Ruth Reinhardt, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Marin Alsop, and Robert Spano. Prior to joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he held similar positions with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Like his BSO predecessor Henegar, Watson studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His principal teachers were Barrick Stees, assistant principal bassoonist of the Cleveland Orchestra, and Jonathan Sherwin, contrabassoonist of the Cleveland Orchestra.  

Watson, who joins the orchestra at the age of 20, will replace violinist Takumi Taguchi as the youngest current member of the BSO. The youngest orchestra member in the BSO's history was Robert Voisin, who joined the trumpet section in 1935 at the age of 17. The next-youngest members, Norman Bolter, Ronald Feldman, and now, Watson, all joined the orchestra at the age of 20.