Canadian pianist Augustine Yates shines as both a composer and performer. His music values improvisation and focuses on interplay within the ensemble.

The emphasis on improvisation allows for different types of musical conversation, where musicians may perform a written-out role, improvise together, or improvise on specific motifs. Due to the combination of through-composed forms and freely improvised sections, his music emphasizes the dichotomy of spontaneity and control.

Yates is a soloist, chamber musician, and composer who enjoys a career in classical and jazz music. He frequently performs in venues across Canada, such as The Jack Singer Concert Hall, The Jubilee Auditorium, The Rex, Lula Lounge, Burdock, and numerous Canadian jazz festivals. His debut record of original compositions, An Open Window, released January 21, 2022 and was Nominated for Jazz Recording of the Year during the 2022 YYC Music Awards.

Yates has performed and recorded with many ensembles, including The Augustine Yates Piano Trio, The Dennis Kwok Jazz Orchestra, Eulogy Eulogy, and The Rob Lee group. He also performs regularly with ensembles such as the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, The Calgary Civic Symphony, and Theatre Calgary.

Yates is on the piano faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary, where he teaches privately. In addition to teaching both classical and jazz, he is also a prolific accompanist, working with soloists and ensembles alike.

Yates began his classical piano studies through the Royal Conservatory of Music, ultimately earning his ARCT diploma, one of the highest degrees offered through the Royal Conservatory. During his high school years, he became enamoured with jazz and began to study the art form. Yates holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Humber College in Toronto. His primary teachers have included many of Canada’sfinest musicians, such as Brian Dickinson, Robi Botos, and Adrean Farrugia.