Leon Bates at Temple University Performing Arts Center, On Canvas for WHYY TV: Interview and live performances including Sonata in B flat minor (Scherzo) by Frédéric Chopin;Scarbo from Gaspard de la Nuit by Maurice Ravel; Fantasy in C minor by Wolfgang Mozart; The Banjo by Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Leon Bates is currently available for masterclasses.
As one of America’s leading pianists, Leon Bates has earned for himself a place on the international concert circuit. His performance schedule has included dates across the United States, in Canada, Italy, France, Austria, Ireland, England as well as Africa. He is invited to perform on the major concert stages around the world and audiences and critics find his musical spirit to possess all the elements of greatness.
Mr. Bates has performed with many of the major U.S. symphonies such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Detroit Symphony and the Boston Symphony.
In Europe, he has performed with the Vienna Symphony, the Basel Symphony, the Radio-Orchestra of Dublin, the Strasbourg Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Malmo Symphony of Sweden and more.
Whether in recital or as a soloist with orchestra, his praises are enumerated in many different languages — but they all agree that Leon Bates is a major artist and one of America’s best.
Review Excerpts
| LEON BATES IN VIENNA | — Vienna Symphony |
| “Leon Bates was top performance with ‘Rhapsody in Blue:’ Brilliant. powerful, a virtuoso. He has Gershwin in his little fingers, in his spirit and in his intellect.” | |
| LEON BATES IN NEW YORK | — New York Times |
| “Rarer still is the artist who can carry off as wise an interpretive touch…” | |
| LEON BATES IN SAN FRANCISCO | — San Francisco Chronicle |
| “Even on a day like Sunday when the piano was king on The City’s concert circuit, Leon Bates merits at least a duchy of his own.” | |
| LEON BATES WITH THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA | — Philadelphia Inquirer |
| “His firm rhythmic sense was not unyielding, He made the jaunty solo passages sound like elegant improvisations. He gave such impetus to the first movement that he was interrupted by applause at the end.” | |
| LEON BATES IN ITALY | — Le Repubblica. Rome |
| “Leon Bates alone succeeded in giving the music its explosive power, dramatic character and unmistakable color…Bates is a formidable pianist and a virtuoso…” | |
| LEON BATES IN AMERICA | — High Fidelity/Musical America |
| “… he is an artist of powerful impact.” | |