Big Pianist on Campus

George Gershwin - Piano Concerto in F; Aaron Copland - El Salon Mexico ~ Piano Blues No. 3; Samuel Barber - Ballade; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, conducting; Peter Jablonski, piano

During my sophomore year at SDSU, a guest artist came to our fair university, stayed for a week and made an impact on me which lasted for many years. Master pianist Leon Bates had a last minute cancellation which cleared up his schedule for a five day period prior to scheduled performances with the SDSU Civic Symphony and on the Brookings Chamber Music Society Series. I had never met an actual concert pianist before this. The way that he rehearsed, the manner in which he interacted with other musicians, the joy he expressed in what he did for a living each and every day confirmed all of my suspicions. I wanted to do what he did.

During the week, he did a lot of practicing. For a few days he holed himself up in Dr. P.’s office, making a huge racket down at that end of the hall. The cancellation of his previous engagement couldn’t have come at a better time, he told us, as he needed the extra rehearsal time for his performance repertoire on a concert a few weeks later.

On Saturday night, he shared a recital with the Emerson Quartet. Mr. Bates performed Beethoven’s Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57, - the so-called “Appassionata”. I think the quartet played a Haydn quartet. Then, together, Leon Bates and the Emerson Quartet performed Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44. Absolutely astounding performances.

On Sunday afternoon, the SDSU Civic Symphony performed an all-Gershwin program, opening with George Gershwin’s Cuban Overture. Mr. Bates then took to the stage to play the everlasting “Rhapsody in Blue”. After intermission, he returned to the piano for a spirited trek through Mr. Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. Again, he knocked me out.

Leon Bates had become, at the time, somewhat of an authority on George Gershwin’s piano works. Whenever he made his debut with an orchestra, if it worked to include it within the orchestra’s concert season, he would program Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. Two of my friends in college traveled to New York City to see him make his first appearance with the New York Philharmonic and heard him play that piece.

Earlier in the week, Mr. Bates graciously offered me some of his time to give me a piano lesson. I had prepared Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor for a piano competition, and with me at the bigger Mason & Hamlin and him at the smaller Steinway in Dr. P.’s office, he sight-read the second piano part without a struggle and played louder than I did. There’s a reason.

Leon Bates is a bodybuilder. He's absolutely huge. He told us that it clears his mind and gets him out of the practice room to do something other than music. Whenever he sits down at a piano, it looks like it’s going to lose.

During his week at SDSU, he went to the gym to work out and received an unexpected ... well, I guess you say ... audience. Other weight-lifters came over to him for tips and advise. In fact, some of the weight-training instructors and football coaches invited him over to the arena to speak with some of the athletes and students in a forum. Naturally, he told them all about the concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Most of the football players and weight-trainers came to the concert on Sunday afternoon. Let me say, I have seen better attended concerts. But I have never seen a “bigger” audience.

Credits: To Leon Bates, for his work on stage, in the classroom and with children. I like that you drive a pickup.