About the Artist
Robert A. Baker is a composer, theorist and conductor of new music.
His compositions have been programmed on concert series, conferences and at festivals in North America and Europe, including: the St. Magnus, the York Spring New Music, and Didsbury Arts Festivals (UK); Jihlava 2001 lnternational Choral Festival ( Czech Republic); Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop, and Canadian Music Centre Professional Readings Series; Society of Composers, lnc., College Music Society, and FSU Biennial Festival of New Music, and Miami New Music ISCM Festival (USA).
Recent premieres include a new piano concerto premiered by lvo Kaltchev andNewprism Ensemble (Washington DC,2OL7 ), a sextet for New York's ensemble mise-en(2016), and his second violin concerto for SONAR New Music Ensemble (Baltimore, 20l5).
His research focusses on 20th-Century analysis, particularly the music of Wolfgang Rihm, Pierre Boulez, and Henri Dutilleux, as well as issues of temporality and the perception of musical form. His writing has been published in Perspectives of New Music and Circuitmusique contemporoines, and he has presented papers at numerous music and theory society conferences including MTSMA, WCCMTA, MTSE, TSMT, and MusCan (Canada).
Robert received a B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Toronto (1993), an A.R.C.T. Piano Performance Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (1993), and his M.M. and Ph.D. in Composition from McGill University (2004/2009). His principal teachers in composition and theory include John Rea, Jean Lesage, and Christoph Neidhoffer. He has participated in composition Master Classes with Brian Ferneyhough, Philippe Leroux, Francois Rose, and Klas Torstensson.
Robert has taught various theory and composition courses as an Adjunct Lecturer at McGill, Salisbury and Towson Universities, as well as Anne Arundel Community College, and is currently Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
