Robert Bates

Robert Bates

Robert-Bates

Before his retirement from teaching in 2017, Robert Bates served as Professor of Music at the Moores School of Music, the University of Houston, where he headed the organ department.  He received a Ph.D. in musicology from Stanford University in 1986, where he later served as University Organist.  In 2012, he became a Fellow at the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University.  Dr. Bates won prizes for organ performance in Fort Wayne, San Antonio, Detroit, and Bruges; he was awarded two French conservatory prizes, the Prix d’excellence and the Prix de virtuosité, both from the class of Marie-Claire Alain.  He has performed widely in Europe and at many universities in the United States.  He is a specialist in early French organs and organ music, and he is currently writing a multi-volume study of the organ of the French Renaissance. His extensive discography includes the complete works of Johannes Brahms, Louis-Claude Daquin, Francisco Correa de Arauxo, and Jehan Titelouze (awarded the prestigious German Music Critics Award). His students have consistently won top prizes in organ performance in American and international competitions.