Robert Phillips (born July 26, 1953, New York City) is an American
classical guitarist
This is a list of classical guitarists.
Baroque (17th and 18th centuries)
19th century
20th century
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXAPUbFDFJfxY2qijBIG2Og?view_as=subscriberModern
See also
* List of flamenco guitarists
References
...
.
Early life
Born Robert Michael Phillips, he is the son of Dr. Robert Warren Phillips and Dr. Irma Phillips who lived, although only briefly, in
Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 ...
. A few months after his birth his parents returned to his mother's native Puerto Rico, living in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
. Three years later they returned to the U.S., living for two years in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and then moving to
Deer Park, New York
Deer Park is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon, in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 27,745 at the 2010 census.
History
Deer Park is located in the pine barrens in th ...
. He attended Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic school and then
Seton Hall High School
Seton Hall High School was located on 155 West Roe Boulevard in Patchogue, New York. Prior to 1952, the school was situated in bungalows on South Ocean Avenue. It opened in September 1937 and was closed in June 1974. Seton Hall was one of very ...
.
Music career
Education
Phillips began his musical training at age 8 on the
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
. He began to teach himself the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
at age 12. He did not work with a teacher until 1967, when he began to learn
finger-style folk guitar
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Folk ...
. After taking lessons for a year, he studied classical guitar at the suggestion of his teacher.
In 1971, he entered
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...
as a Music Education major, studying under Stanley Solow. After graduating in 1975, Phillips began studies in New York under
José Rey de la Torre
José Rey de la Torre (December 9, 1917 – July 21, 1994) was one of the most significant classical guitarists of the mid-twentieth century, and considered by many to be the father of "modern classical guitar technique".
Early life
Rey studied ...
. In 1976, Rey left New York for
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and Phillips worked on his own for the next two years. In 1977, after attending a three-week seminar and master class under the direction of
Guido Santórsola
Guido Antonio Santórsola di Bari Bruno (18 November 1904 in Canosa di Puglia, Italy – 24 September 1994 in Montevideo, Uruguay) was a Brazilian-Uruguayan composer, violinist, Viola, violist, viola d'amore player, and Conducting, conductor of Ita ...
and
Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Phillips began to study on a more or less regular basis with Barbosa-Lima. In 1979, Phillips decided that a more regular regimen of study was desirable, and he studied briefly with
Dennis Koster. Soon after, he returned to school at
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
in order to earn a master's degree. He studied first with
David Starobin
David Starobin (born September 27, 1951) is a highly honored figure in the world of classical guitar. Called "arguably the most influential American classical guitarist of the 20th century" ('' Soundboard''),
Starobin was born in New York City. ...
and then with
Michael Cedric Smith. Phillips graduated with an master's degree 1982. Although he did play in master classes, most notably by
Eduardo Fernandez, Phillips did not return to formal education until 1999, when he entered the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
. Under the instruction of Rene Gonzalez, he earned a
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in ...
. While at the University of Miami, he also had the opportunity to perform in a master class given by
Sergio Assad
Sergio may refer to:
* Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio
* Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found
* ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass
* ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film
* ''Se ...
.
Performing and recording
He made his New York recital debut at
Weill Recital Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by ...
at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
on October 31, 1987. In 1991 he released his first album, ''Guitarre Nouveau'', which included works by
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
,
Frank Martin,
Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber (born 22 January 1940, in Stuttgart, Germany) is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, m ...
, and
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...
, as well as his own compositions. In 1996 he released a 2-CD set, ''Great Themes and Variations for Classic Guitar'' as a companion to his anthology of the same name. His next recording wasn't until 2014 when he released the complete solo guitar works of Miguel Llobet in a recording titled, ''Lo Mestre, the Music of Miguel Llobet''
He performs as a solo recitalist, ensemble player, and guest soloist. He has premiered works by Alfred Giusto,
Frank Brazinski, Eric Ross, as well as the "Pipedream Sonata" by
Meyer Kupferman
Meyer Kupferman (July 3, 1926 – November 26, 2003) was an American composer and clarinetist.
Life
Meyer Kupferman was born in New York City to Jewish parents. , which Phillips commissioned and the Goyescana Concerto for guitar and orchestra by
Michael Colina
Michael Dalmau Colina (born November 16, 1948) is a GRAMMY-winning American musician, composer, producer and engineer. He has written music for television, film, theatre, dance and live performances on concert stages throughout the United States, ...
which he also commissioned and premiered in 2008.
In 2016 Phillips embarked on a commissioning project, enlisting six Central Florida based composers to each create a new work for solo guitar in a dance rhythm. The composers that participated in the project were
Troy Gifford,
Jorge Morel
Jorge Scibona (9 May 1931 – 10 February 2021), known professionally as Jorge Morel, was a classical guitarist and composer from Argentina.
Biography
Morel was born in Buenos Aires. His father taught him the rudiments of classical guitar from a ...
,
Benoit Glazer, Charles Griffin, all from Orlando,
Howard J. Buss
Howard J. Buss (born January 6, 1951 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Buss’ works include instrumental solos, chamber music, symphonic, choral, and band works. His music has received awards, ...
from Lakeland, Florida, and Rex Willis from Sarasota.
Writing
In 1983 Phillips worked briefly as an editorial assistant on the staff of ''Guitar Review''. In 1989 he began writing a monthly classical guitar column in the rock-oriented guitar magazine, ''
Guitar for the Practicing Musician
''Guitar for the Practicing Musician'' was a guitar magazine published in the United States by Cherry Lane Music from 1982 to 1999. The magazine was published monthly. In 1992, it was the most popular music publication at newsstands, selling 740 ...
'', and its more general sister publication, the quarterly, ''Guitar Extra''.
In 1992
Cherry Lane Music discontinued the publication of ''Guitar Extra'', and dropped his classical guitar column in ''Guitar for the Practicing Musician''. Phillips went on to write several short "lessons" for ''
Guitar Player
''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...
'' magazine. He also contributed articles to ''
Soundboard'', the quarterly publication of the
Guitar Foundation of America
The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is an American classical guitar nonprofit organization that was founded in 1973 at the National Guitar Convention sponsored by the American String Teachers Association. The foundation offers various servic ...
, and to ''American String Teacher'', the journal of the
American String Teachers Association
The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all are ...
. In 1996, he published ''Great Themes and Variations for Classic Guitar'' (
Mel Bay
Mel Bay (February 25, 1913 – May 14, 1997) was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His '' Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords'' remains a bestseller.
Biography
Early life
Melbourne E. Bay was bo ...
), and released his second recording, a companion to the book.
His doctoral dissertation is titled, ''The Influence of
Miguel Llobet
Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the ...
on the Pedagogy, Repertoire, and Stature of the Guitar in the Twentieth Century''( 2002, OCLC 51796355). It was while researching his dissertation, and on the advice of guitar scholars
Ron Purcell
Ronald Charles Purcell (October 5, 1932 – September 7, 2011) was an American guitarist, with degrees from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and California State University, Northridge. He was Professor Emeritus of the Department of Musi ...
and
Angelo Gilardino
Angelo Gilardino (16 November 1941 – 14 January 2022) was an Italian composer, guitarist, and musicologist.
Life and career
Gilardino was born in Vercelli, Italy, on 16 November 1941.
During his concert career, from 1958 to 1981, he premiered ...
that Phillips sought and found a complete archive of Llobet. His discovery of this missing archive was documented in his article, "Barcelona, Cradle of the Modern Classical Guitar: the Llobet Archive Rediscovered", ''Soundboard XXVIII, no. 4, 2002''.
[Phillips 2002]
Teaching
Phillips began teaching guitar, music appreciation, and music theory at
All Saints' Academy in 1995, and went on to become the chair of the performing arts department until 2008. In 2008, while continuing his duties as an instructor at All Saints' Academy, he began teaching guitar at
Polk State College
Polk State College, formerly Polk Community College, is a public college in Winter Haven, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System.
The college changed its name from Polk Community College in 2009 to reflect its first Bachelor's degre ...
and
Southeastern University
Southeastern University is a private Christian university in Lakeland, Florida. It was established in 1935 in New Brockton, Alabama, as Southeastern Bible Institute, relocated to Lakeland in 1946, and became a liberal arts college in 1970. It ...
. In 2010 he left All Saints' Academy, and accepted a position teaching classical guitar at
Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts
The Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts (also called Harrison School for the Arts) is a high school in Lakeland, Florida, United States. The school was founded in 1989 and named after community member and art patron Lo ...
.
Video
In 1983 Phillips appeared in a series of instructional videos titled "Classical Guitar Made Easy" which was broadcast on
Group W Cable
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndicat ...
. Following the series, he began to produce and host a monthly talk show on Group W. The talk show, which was called "Long Island Sounds" featured interviews and performances of Long Island-based musicians. The show ran for three years, after which Phillips changed the trajectory of his efforts, not returning to video for nearly three decades.
In 2011, taking advantage of new technology and relatively inexpensive production costs, Robert produced and recorded a series of videos of himself performing standards from the classical guitar repertory. Many of these performances were recorded in interesting locations, with the settings of some being almost as much of a feature as the music. Locations included the
Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg, Florida)
History
The MFA was founded by art collector and philanthropist Margaret Acheson Stuart (1896–1980). The Margaret Acheson Stuart Society, the Museum's independent support organization, is named in her honor.
The city provided the four-a ...
, and the
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
Danforth Chapel at the
Florida Southern College
Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...
Child of the Sun
Child of the Sun is a collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on the campus of the Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. The twelve original buildings were constructed between 1941 and 1958. Another of Wright's designs, a ...
. These videos were to be bundled together as "video albums", consisting of compositions that were thematically related. The first of these, "A Spanish Recital", consisted of works by
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his conte ...
,
Enrique Granados
Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados y Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enric Granados in Catalan or Enrique Granados in Spanish, was a composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Catalonia, Spain. ...
,
Miguel Llobet
Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the ...
,
Francisco Tárrega
Francisco de Asís Tárrega Eixea (21 November 185215 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the late Romantic period. He is known for such pieces as Capricho Árabe and ''Recuerdos de la Alhambra''. He is often called ...
, and
Federico Moreno Torroba
Federico Moreno Torroba (3 March 189112 September 1982) was a Spanish composer, conductor, and theatrical impresario. He is especially remembered for his important contributions to the classical guitar repertoire, becoming one of the leading twen ...
.
In 2015 Phillips began to produce "A Year of the Guitar", a video diary in which he chronicled his daily relationship with the instrument. The entries include performances of pieces, study guides for learning pieces, insights into his own daily practice, and instructional materials. These videos were published on the internet in Phillips' YouTube channel with a series of instructional videos.
Discography
* ''Guitarre Nouveau'' – works by
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
,
Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber (born 22 January 1940, in Stuttgart, Germany) is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, he is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing. Weber's compositions blend chamber jazz, European classical music, m ...
,
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", "B ...
,
Frank Martin (composer)
Frank Martin (15 September 1890 – 21 November 1974) was a Swiss composer, who spent much of his life in the Netherlands.
Childhood and youth
Born into a Huguenot family in the Eaux-Vives quarter of Geneva, the youngest of the ten childre ...
, and Robert Phillips (TPL)
* ''Great Themes and Variations for Classic Guitar'' – works by
Fernando Sor
Fernando Sor (bapt. 14 Feb. 1778, died 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the Romantic music, Early Romantic era. Best known for writing solo classical guitar music, he also composed an opera (at the age of 19), thr ...
,
Mauro Giuliani
Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century.
Biography
Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's center ...
,
Matteo Carcassi
Matteo Carcassi (8 April 1796 – 16 January 1853)Raffaele Carpino, Mario dell'Ara: "Matteo Carcassi. Un nuovo aggiornamento biografico", in: ''Il Fronimo'' no. 184 (2018), p. 5–9. was an Italian guitarist and composer.
Life
Carcassi was born i ...
,
Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Sylvius Leopold Weiss (12 October 168716 October 1750) was a German composer and lutenist.
Born in Grottkau near Breslau, the son of Johann Jacob Weiss, also a lutenist, he served at courts in Breslau, Rome, and Dresden, where he died. Until ...
,
Georg Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
,
J. S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
, and others. (
Mel Bay
Mel Bay (February 25, 1913 – May 14, 1997) was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His '' Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords'' remains a bestseller.
Biography
Early life
Melbourne E. Bay was bo ...
)
* ''Lo Mestre'' – complete solo guitar works of
Miguel Llobet
Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk songs for the ...
. (
Centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
)
* ''Night/Dances'' works by Robert Phillips,
Jorge Morel
Jorge Scibona (9 May 1931 – 10 February 2021), known professionally as Jorge Morel, was a classical guitarist and composer from Argentina.
Biography
Morel was born in Buenos Aires. His father taught him the rudiments of classical guitar from a ...
, Charles Griffin, Benoit Glazer, Troy Gifford, Rex Willis, Howard Buss and John W. Powell.
4Tay Records
Sources
*Bert, Alison. Review of Guitarre Nouveau by Robert Phillips. Guitar Extra (Summer 1991), p. 93.
*Catala, Paul. "Lakeland Composer Commissions Pieces Written for Guitar in Dance Rhythms." The Ledger. The Ledger, 17 Feb. 2017. Web. 17 Nov. 2017.
.
* Crutchfield, Will. "Robert Phillips, Guitar." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Nov. 1987. Web. 17 Nov. 2017. .
*Fabian, Valentine. "Meyer Kupferman, Composer." Jeffrey James Arts Consulting Composer Notes, .
*Gherman, Sergiu . “Guitar Concerto High Point of Performance.” The Ledger, The Ledger, 12 Nov. 2008, .
*Griffin, Charlie. "Guitarist Robert Phillips and the Orange Blossom Dances." Artborne Magazine 2, no.6 June 2017, p. 53-54.
*McMullen, Cary. “Imperial Symphony Orchestra Has Innovative Season.” The Ledger, The Ledger, 1 May 2009, .
*Phillips, Robert: "Barcelona, Cradle of the Modern Classical Guitar: The Llobet Archive Rediscovered", Soundboard 28, no. 4 (Spring 2002), p. 39-41.
*Reinstetlethe, Matt . "Harrison Teacher Releases Third Classical-Music Album." The Ledger. The Ledger, 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2017. .
Official web site
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Robert
1953 births
Living people
American classical guitarists
American male guitarists
Brooklyn College alumni
University of Miami Frost School of Music alumni
Hofstra University alumni
People from Valley Stream, New York
People from Deer Park, New York
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians