Susan Heaton Bates

As a high school organ student at Davidson College, Susan Heaton Bates fell in love with the pipe organ and was organist for Davidson United Methodist Church in the late 1960s. After a lengthy music ministry at West Market Street UMC in Greensboro, last year she became Organist and Music Associate at Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem.

Ms. Bates returns to Davidson next Tuesday night for a performance in the Organ at Davidson series at Davidson College Presbyterian Church. It’s the fourth in a seven concert series offered annually from September through May on the refurbished Wicks organ at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

Organ at Davidson programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary of DCPC. They are free with donations encouraged to expand the series. A meet-the-artist reception follows the recital. For the full 2011-2012 schedule, visit www.dcpc.org and click on Music. Guest recitalists receive an honorarium derived solely from donations at the door.

Susan Bates’ musical education continued at Salem College. She held the position of Assistant University Organist and Instructor of Undergraduate Organ while earning her Master of Musical Arts in organ performance at Yale. She is adjunct music faculty at Wake Forest University and Greensboro College and plays harpsichord with the Carolina Baroque and Greensboro Early Music ensembles.

TUESDAY’S PROGRAM

Ms. Bates will play a Gigue Fugue by Buxtehude that she first played at Davidson College Presbyterian Church as a young student. She also will play some Bach, Distler, and some of Dan Locklair’s works. Mr. Locklair is a close friend who studied composition with the late David Richey, the concert artist’s eighth grade piano teacher in Davidson.

Also on her program is a lovely set of Variations on “All Things Bright and Beautiful.” It was composed for the dedication of the Dobson-Rosales (1999) pipe organ at West Market Street UMC in Greensboro by her husband Dr. James M. Bates.