ERIC BATES, Violin
Eric Bates is the Second Assistant Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction on Maestro Paavo Jarvi. Since his solo debut at the age of eight with the Shreveport Centenary College Orchestra, Eric has made solo appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony, LeGrand (Oregon) Symphony Orchestra, the Tennessee Festival Orchestra, the Kentucky Symphony and the Starling Chamber Orchestra in Cincinnati.
In November 2000, Eric completed his first solo recording for the Red Mark Label. It features Five Divertimenti for solo violin by the Cincinnati-based composer Frank Proto and has been praised highly by major music magazines such as Fanfare, Musical Opinion and The Strad.
Eric began his musical training on piano at the age of three with his mother Glenda Bates. At the age of six, he began violin lessons with Laura Crawford at the Shreveport Suzuki School and in 1990 was awarded a Starling Scholarship to attend the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati where he became a student of Dorothy Delay and Kurt Sassmannshaus.
An active chamber musician, Eric is the first violinist with the Duveneck String Quartet. He resides in Cincinnati with his wife Christina Coletta, the assistant principal cello of the Dayton Philharmonic, and their sons Samuel and Henry.
