Chris Bates
Chris Bates (b. 1986) is a percussionist, composer, and music engraver living in Saint Joseph, Missouri. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Missouri Western State University in Music which he received in 2011. In his twenty years as a musician, he has won various soloist awards and has gotten to perform with various ensembles and bands that has traveled all over the United States. His biggest honor to date was in 2004 at The National Christian Fine Arts Festival receiving the Percussion Soloist Award with Honors, an award given out to the top 10 performers out of over 500 applicants from all over the country.
With a strong background as a performer, Chris Bates has also served in numerous positions as a percussion instructor and music theory teacher for the Salvation Army Community Center throughout Missouri. During his time with the Salvation Army, he was given the honor serving as the sole percussion instructor and clinician at the MoKan Gospel Arts Institute in the summer of 2011.
As a composer, he has composed numerous solos for drum set and for rudimental snare drum and has performed his compositions in various music events while in college studying for his Bachelor's degree. During his time at Missouri Western State University, he studied percussion with Dr. Dennis Rogers, Dr. Tracy Thomas, Doug Auwarter, and Jay Albright. He studied composition with Dr. Matthew Gilmour.
Chris Bates has also become a skilled music engraver. His work has started out with the recreation of Dennis Rogers' compilation of drum set solos in his book, Recital Pieces for Drumset. He has worked with Nashville based session drummer, Jim Riley, who serves as drummer, music director, and bandleader for the Grammy Award winning country music group, Rascal Flatts. Jim Riley wrote the percussion ensemble piece, "Legend," which Chris Bates engraved and is currently published by PercMaster Publications, run by Dennis Rogers. Jim has collaborated with Chris with other projects which include small compositions and Jim's most recent book, Survival Guide for the Modern Drummer, which was released by Alfred Music Publishing in 2015.
You can also find him as a current member of the 312th Army Reserve Band in Lawrence, Kansas while working a full time job, composing and engraving music, and residing in Saint Joseph, Missouri with his wife, Heather, and his two daughters, Josephine and Gabriella.
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