Mr. Watkins is the recipient of the Dr. Quincy Jones Award from the Raney Moss Group Foundation (2019), as well as the ASCAP Foundation/Cherry Lane Foundation/Music Alive Award in Honor of Dr. Quincy Jones (2008) for his outstanding work in production, composition, performance, and musical direction. He is also the recipient of the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts' Emerging Artist Award (2015) for his exemplary work with children, his service to the community, and his many accomplishments as a rising performing artist.

 

Mr. Watkins has appeared in several operas, including Steven M. Allen’s The Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadows for which he sang the original leading baritone role of quintessential novelist and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and garnered media attention in the PBS Documentary, "Beyond the Mask," chronicling the life of Mr. Dunbar. Mr. Watkins sang opposite internationally renowned mezzo soprano Denyce Graves, who sang the role of Matilda Dunbar (Paul Laurence Dunbar’s mother). Other opera credits include Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors (King Balthazar), Tony Small’s Qadar (Omani), and Marc Blitzstein’s Regina (Jazz) where he sang opposite Broadway diva Patti LuPone. Mr. Watkins has appeared on Season 6.2 of the hit television series “House of Cards” and received his first Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical (The Gospel at Colonus, 2017.)

Mr. Watkins has opened concerts for the world’s greatest storyteller in Gospel music Evangelist Dorothy Norwood, six-time Stellar Award Winner Byron Cage, and Grammy Award Winners Natalie Cole and Take 6. At the age of 16, a young jazz pianist, Mr. Watkins was invited to the Canadian Embassy to privately perform for the late Oscar Peterson. A couple of years later, he was invited to do the same for Congressman John Conyers, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and Broadway conductor Linda Twine. As a pianist and musical director, he’s worked with Debbie Allen, Linda Eder, Lynda Gravatt, Kim Burrell, Yolanda Adams, Clay Aiken, Brian McKnight, Jennifer Holiday, Hinton Battle, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and DC’s own Step Afrika! He has performed on numerous occasions for The Capital City Chapter of The Links Incorporated and is well-celebrated as an artist by The Society Incorporated. Mr. Watkins can be heard as a featured soloist on Patrick Lundy & the Ministers of Music’s hit song "Take It to the Lord in Prayer" and the Stellar Award nominated choir’s album, "MAJESTY: A LIVE Recording of Anthems, Hymns and Spirituals." In 2015, he joined forces with the Washington National Opera and the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program in narrating the Appomattox Preview, an artistic preface to Phillip Glass’ opera, Appomattox.

The effervescent renaissance man that he is, Greg Watkins is a Helen Hayes Award Winner (Legally Blonde, 2019, Keegan Theatre). He has appeared as an actor in countless regional, professional productions and staged readings including Jubilee (Arena Stage/Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Aida (Constellation Theatre Company), Rock of Ages (Workhouse Arts Center), Sister Act (Arts Centric), Black Nativity (Theater Alliance), Thunder Knocking on the Door (Creative Cauldron), King Lear and Gospel at Colonus (WSC Avant Bard), Secret Hour (Prologue Theater), Montgomery (Monumental Theater Company/Kennedy Center) and Beyond the Mask (PBS Documentary).
 
As a musical director, Mr. Watkins has worked locally and nationally on a number of productions including The Poet Warriors (2010 Capital Fringe Best Musical Award). Additionally, he has worked in tandem with prolific Broadway & Sundance Film Composer Kathryn Bostic and Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad as co-music arranger and musical director for the nationally acclaimed staged reading of Christina Ham’s Four Little Girls, produced by Project1 Voice and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has guest conducted with the Cathedral Choral Society where he now sits in his second term as a member of the Board of Trustees. His talents as a singer and pianist have even taken him from the White House, John F. Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral, and Warner Theater to international soil: Germany, Russia, Italy, China, Antigua and Barbuda, and Colombia.
Coming off a successful performance year with Constellation Theatre Company (Desperate Measures), Step Afrika! (The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence), and Seattle Opera (Jubilee, world premiere), Greg Watkins readies himself for an incredible 2025 and soon thereafter a major guest conducting residency in 2026.