In her final year at the Royal College of Music, Watson organised a debut concert, which attracted
the Duke and
Duchess of York as well as
Elle Macpherson,
George Michael and others. Over the years, Watson has also sung in various
benefit concerts. She has performed for
Children in Crisis, Watson has also performed on behalf of a
Sir Winston Churchill charity at
Blenheim Palace in England and for the
Anti-Human Trafficking Campaign for the United Nations at
Hofburg Imperial Palace in Austria. In 2009, Watson performed as a soloist with the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at
Priory Park, Southend-on-Sea, England, as part of the annual benefit concert series,
Concerts in the Park, organised by the
Rotary Club of Rayleigh Mill. Watson also performed with
The Celtic Tenors in Los Angeles and the
RDS Concert Hall in
Dublin, Ireland. In 2010, Watson sang at
The 2010 Genlux Britweek Designer of the Year Award and Fashion Show in Los Angeles, honouring the British designer
Matthew Williamson, and travelled to
Iceland, exploring the country and headlining a major Christmas concert with
Paul Potts and
Alexander Rybak in
Reykjavík. As of 2011, Watson has been spending time in Los Angeles, where she has also recorded for
DreamWorks films.
Summer Watson signed a £1 million recording contract with
Sony Classical in 2002. The programme of her self-titled debut album
Summer, created by Watson herself and producer Nick Patrick, is a collection of classical, popular and world music, including pieces and arrangements of music by
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Antonín Dvořák,
Gabriel Fauré,
Geminiano Giacomelli,
Benjamin Godard,
Ennio Morricone,
Stanley Myers,
Joaquín Rodrigo,
Sting,
Richard Strauss and others. The album was recorded at
Abbey Road Studios with the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted and arranged by
Nick Ingman. Other recording studios included
Air Lyndhurst and
Townhouse Studios, while the London Session Orchestra provided additional strings. Watson worked with various musicians during the recording of the album, including
Pino Palladino,
Richard Harvey,
Nigel Hitchcock,
Dominic Miller and
John Parricelli. She also had
Roger Vignoles as her accompanist in
Sposa son disprezzata, and
Marcelo Álvarez as her duet partner in
Tutta La Vita by Matteo Saggese. Choirs on the album are the
London Oratory School Schola and
Metro Voices.
Summer was released internationally in 2003, while
Arena named her as "the
Norah Jones of 2003". The
Daily Express described the album as "very chilled out in a classical way." == Personal ==