Robert A. Baker

composer
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C.V.

BIOGRAPHY

Robert A. Baker (born 1970, Toronto, Canada) is a composer, pianist, researcher, conductor and teacher.
His compositional aesthetic is one of stylistic pluralism, and is accompanied by a fascination with issues of
listener perception, expectation, time and memory.

Robert’s music has been performed by orchestras, ensembles, and soloists in North America and Europe including:
the Azimuth Quartet and the Great Lakes Duo (USA); Esprit Orchestra, the Madawaska String Quartet, Elgin String
Quartet, The Standing Wave Ensemble, and toneART ensemble (of which Baker was a founding member) (Canada);
Chiasmus and Psappha Ensembles (UK).

His music has been programmed on numerous concert series and at festivals and conferences including: the St. Magnus,
the York Spring New Music, and Didsbury Arts Festivals (UK); Jihlava 2001 International Choral Festival ( Czech Republic);
Festival "Giuseppe Rosetta" 1998 (Italy); Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop, Canadian Music Centre Professional
Readings Series, and New Music North ( Canada); Society of Composers, Inc., College Music Society, and FSU Biennial
Festival of New Music, and Miami New Music ISCM Festival (USA).

An award winner and finalist in international competitions, including “Jihlava 2000” International Choral Composition Competition
of the Czech Republic, the 6th International Composition Competition, “Città di Udine” 2006, Italy, Free Style Composition Competition (England),
and Choral Arts Ensemble Minnesota (USA), Robert’s music has been supported by the Maryland State and Toronto Arts Councils, broadcast
by CBC Radio Canada, and featured on TEM (Taukay Edizione Musicali) Italian Web Radio.

Numerous commercial recordings of Robert’s music have been made by such artists and ensembles as classical guitarist
Danielle Cumming, toneART ensemble ( Canada), the University Choir of Pardubice (Czech Rep.), and Chiasmus Ensemble ( England).
His first string quartet is included on the recent 2010 ISCM Canadian Section Selected Works CD, and a new recording devoted to Robert’s
recent solo and chamber music is scheduled for release in the 2011/12 season.

An experienced conductor of chamber, orchestral and choral music, Robert has appeared as Guest Conductor for the Brampton
and Scarborough Cathedral Bluffs Orchestras ( Canada), and most recently conducted Salisbury University’s spring 2008 production
of Dido and Aeneas from the harpsichord.

Robert is also an active researcher on contemporary music analysis and philosophies on the perception of musical time and form.
His research and theories on operatic spatiotemporality have led to a published article (“Spaces and Places of Opera”, Circuit
musiques contemporaines, December 2007, Vol. 17, no. 3), and paper presentations at College Music Society conferences in the
United States, and organization for which he currently serves as Composition Area Chair for the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Robert holds a Ph.D. and M.Mus. in composition (McGill, 2009 and 2004) where his principal teachers were John Rea and Jean Lesage,
a B.Mus. in theory (Toronto, 1993) and an A.R.C.T. in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, 1993). Since 2008
Robert has been teaching various music courses as an Adjunct Lecturer at Salisbury University, MD, and beginning fall 2011 will also be on
faculty at Towson University (Baltimore, MD).

August 2011