Piano Virtuoso Emily Bear Plays Mesa Arts Center Tonight

Thirteen-year-old piano super talent Emily Bear, who has performed internationally in venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, will perform live with Zuill Bailey in Mesa Arts Center's Piper Theater tonight, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets available now at the Mesa Arts Center Box Office, mesaartscenter.com, or at 480-644-6500.

In his illustrious career, Quincy Jones had seen it all - or so he may have thought before he came across Emily Bear. At thirteen, Emily is one of the most astonishing musical talents of our time - composing, orchestrating, and performing in a bewilderingly diverse collection of styles. She has been called the next Mozart.

"She's the most delightful human being I've ever met in my life," Quincy Jones says. "And her music is the same way. I am at once astounded and inspired by the enormous talent that Emily embodies. With the ability to seamlessly move from Classical to Jazz and Be-bop, she shows as much musical prowess as pianists/composers twice her age, and I am thrilled to be working with her. She's astounding, man ... she's astounding. She plays like she's 40 years old. She is the complete 360-degree package, and there are no limits to the musical heights she can reach."

Born Aug. 30, 2001, Emily made her concert debut at age 5, at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, playing a 40-minute solo program performing classical pieces side by side with jazz standards and her own compositions. Her orchestral debut came at age 7, and by age 8, she was playing concerts abroad in Italy and China. At the age of 9 she made her Carnegie Hall debut with a 110-piece orchestra, a 220-voice choir, and R&B soloists performing one of her compositions.

Emily plays all of her music from memory - even 45-page classical concertos. "I memorize them (the notes) pretty quickly," she says, adding modestly, "then it's all about polishing the details."

Emily broke into the national spotlight at age 6 when she appeared as a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show performing Mozart, jazz and an original song she composed. She has since been featured on several major news programs, including Good Morning America, ABC World News Report with Diane Sawyer, ABC Nightline, and the Katie Couric Show. Internationally, Emily has been featured in stories on Swiss, German, Australian, Italian and Chinese television, among others.

Now that her hands are finally large enough to play it, she is learning Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," one of her all-time favorite pieces, for a concert series in Connecticut run by a member of the Gershwin family. Yet like anyone her age, Emily has other interests as well; she loves swimming, ice skating, designing and making jewelry, baking, spending time with her family and friends, and going to the beach.

Mesa Arts Center is located at One East Main Street in downtown Mesa. Tickets are available through the Mesa Arts Center Box Office at MesaArtsCenter.com or by calling 480-644-6500.

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