Violinist Phil Watts graduated from the Boyer College of Music and Dance, where he received a master of music degree as a student of Davyd Booth and was the recipient of the Emily and Arthur Crosby Award. An avid chamber musician, Watts has performed in ensembles coached by Sara Davis Buechner, John Koen, Kerri Ryan, Udi Bar-David, Meichen Liao-Barnes and Michelle Rosen, as well as in master classes by the Dover Quartet, among others. Watts holds a bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Swarthmore College, where he also studied violin with Lenuta Ciulei and Robert Chen. During pre-college, he attended the Meadowmount School of Music, where he studied violin with Isaac Malkin, Sally Thomas and Ann Setzer, and was a viola scholarship recipient in chamber music. Prior to his move to the East Coast, Watts studied privately with members of the Seattle Symphony, including Peter Kaman, Maria Larionoff and Gennady Filimonov, as well as Steven Staryk at the University of Washington. Watts began playing violin at age nine as student of Carolyn Wyman.

Watts teaches privately and coaches chamber music at Temple University Music Prep, where he is also the orchestra manager for the Center for Gifted Young Musicians. He is an active member of the American String Teachers Association and teaches in community outreach programs sponsored by Symphony in C and Independence Mission Schools. Watts enjoys an active freelance career across the Northeast.