Concert Pianist Leon Bates to Perform at CU Tuesday, January 30

Athens, W.Va. - As part of Black History Month, concert pianist Leon Bates will perform at Concord University, Tuesday, January 30, 2007, at 8 p.m. in the Alexander Fine Arts Center Main Auditorium.

Typical of Bates’ concerts, this performance will include classical pieces by famous historical, as well as contemporary composers. Bates’ approach demonstrates that classical music is not passé and helps his usually young audience develop a taste for music other than rap and rock.

As a black bodybuilder, the Philadelphia native has been breaking students’ stereotypes of concert pianists since he started performing music in the early 1970s. “Classical musicians don’t always come from Europe,” Bates says. “Everybody has the capacity of appreciating this music and it all depends on how they are introduced to it.”

Bates talents have been recognized beyond the university stage. He has performed at the prestigious Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Orchestra and other symphonies throughout the country. He has also played abroad with the Vienna Symphony, the Strasbourg Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra in South Africa.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $2 for non-Concord students.

-CU-

CONCORD UNIVERSITY NOTES: Persons with disabilities should contact Nancy Ellison at 1-304-384-6086 if special assistance or help is required for access to an event scheduled by the University on campus.

Isabel Fay from Germany, Evgeniya Gaspodinova from Bulgaria and Laurel Cole from Damascus, Va., students in Concord University Communication Arts department wrote this press release.