As pianist, Watkins has appeared as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, and the London Sinfonietta, and performs throughout Europe and North America as soloist and chamber musician. Many composers have written concertos for him, including Philip Cashian, Tansy Davies and Helen Grime. He records for labels such as Signum, Chandos and BIS with regular collaborators Tamsin Waley Cohen, Ruby Hughes and Adam Walker.