Pianist Leon Bates Announces His Retirement from Touring

We have just received word that, sadly, Leon Bates is retiring from concert touring for medical reasons—a diagnosis of Parkinson’s—and thus must cancel his upcoming December 9 concert with Michelle Cann.

We approached Leon to ask him how we could, instead, make the December 9 date an event that celebrates Leon and his wonderful artistry and legacy.  Working together with this friend and fellow Philadelphian, we devised a new program entitled Bernstein, Bates & Friends, which will feature more than a dozen musicians who Leon has mentored, or with whom he has collaborated throughout his amazing five-decade career.

The new concert is at the same time and place—Sunday, December 9, 2018, at 3 pm, in Benjamin Franklin Hall at the American Philosophical Society. Your tickets to the Bates/Cann recital will gain you entrance to this new program.

The Bernstein, Bates & Friends program is as follows:

Bernstein, Bates & Friends
Sunday, December 9, 3 pm
American Philosophical Society

Program
Bernstein: Piano Trio [Ahn Trio]
Walker: Piano Sonata No. 1 [Dynasty Battles, piano]
Lefebvre: Suite for Wind Quintet, Op. 57 [Borealis Wind Quintet]
Ives: String Quartet No. 1 [Portland String Quartet]
Gershwin: Selection of Songs TBA [Louise Toppin, soprano and Joseph Joubert, piano]

Artists
Ahn Trio
Portland String Quartet
Borealis Wind Quintet
Louise Toppin, soprano
Dynasty Battles, piano
Joseph Joubert, piano

We apologize for this change but think you will really enjoy the new program and the opportunity to help us pay tribute to Leon. However, if you prefer, you may choose from one of the following options:

(1) Exchange your tickets for another PCMS event this season (note: a few concerts are already sold-out).

(2) Donate your tickets to our Student Ticket Fund. Receive a tax deduction, and we will enrich the lives of young people by providing an equal number of free tickets to students who could otherwise not attend.

(3) Request a refund. If you wish, we will send you a check or refund your credit card.

If you want to choose one of these options, or have any questions, please contact Bradford, Michelle, or Erik in our box office at 215-569-8080 or boxoffice@pcmsconcerts.org.