Robert A. Wykes (May 19, 1926 in

Aliquippa Aliquippa is the largest city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on the Ohio River about northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,238 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Formerly the l ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

; - June 29, 2021 in St. Louis, Missouri) was an American composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

and

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

. He began studying the flute as a child, then served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He then attended the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

, obtaining a master's degree in music theory. He taught at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

from 1950 to 1952, also playing flute with the

Toledo Symphony The Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts was created in 2019 when the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Ballet merged. Based in Toledo, Ohio, it operated with a $13.2 million budget in its fiscal year 2020 and maintains the two brand n ...

. His

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

''The Prankster'' premiered at the University in January 1952. Later that year, Wykes left Bowling Green to study and teach at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

where he stayed until he graduated with a doctorate in music in 1955. He was appointed to the music faculty of

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in 1955, becoming a full professor in 1965. He played flute with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1963 to 1967 and with the Studio for New Music from 1966 to 1969. He retired from Washington University in 1988. He was appointed composer-in-residence at the Djerassi Foundation in

Woodside, California Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the United States, home to many technology billionaires and investment manager ...

in 1989 and was a visiting scholar at the Computer Center for Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1991. His notable students include

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...

Olly Wilson Olly Woodrow Wilson, Jr. (September 7, 1937 – March 12, 2018) was an American composer of contemporary classical music, pianist, double bassist, and a musicologist. He was one of the most preeminent composers of African American descent in the ...

Jocy de Oliveira Jocy de Oliveira (born 11 April 1936) is a Brazilian pianist, multimedia artist and composer. Biography Jocy de Oliveira was born in Curitiba and grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. She studied in São Paulo with Joseph Kliass, in Paris with Marguerit ...

Rhian Samuel

Gary Lee Nelson Gary Lee Nelson (born Albion, Michigan, 1940) is a composer and media artist who taught at Oberlin College in the TIMARA (Technology in Music and Related Arts) department. He specializes in algorithmic composition, real-time interactive sound ...

Greg Danner Greg Danner (born May 16, 1958) is a contemporary American composer, educator, and professional musician. He is currently the composer-in-residence and professor at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is the 2010 Composer's Gui ...

and John Elwood Price. Wykes's orchestral works have been performed by the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

, the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Em ...

, the

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is the second-oldest professional symphony orc ...

, the National Orchestra of Brazil and the Pro Arte Symphony of Brazil, and the

Denver Symphony The Denver Symphony Orchestra, established in 1934 and dissolved in 1989, was a professional American orchestra in Denver, Colorado. Until 1978, when the Boettcher Concert Hall was built to house the symphony orchestra, it performed in a successio ...

. Wykes's music is published by Fallen Leaf Press of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

Works

Film Scores *''

Monument to the Dream ''Monument to the Dream'' is a 1967 American short documentary film about the Gateway Arch National Park directed by Charles Guggenheim and narrated by Paul Richards. At the time of the film's production, the park was known as the Jefferson Nat ...

'' (1968); Venice Film Festival ''Mercuro d'Oro.'' *''

Robert Kennedy Remembered ''Robert Kennedy Remembered'' is a 1968 American short documentary film produced and directed by Charles Guggenheim. In 1969, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject at the 41st Academy Awards. Cast * Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kenne ...

'' (1969); Oscar and Cindy awards. *''MoPac Delivers'' (1975); An Industrial Film for the Missouri Pacific Railroad *''The Eye of Jefferson'' (1977); ''Cine Golden Eagle Award'' and Chicago Film Festival Silver Plaque. *''John F. Kennedy: 1917-1963'' (1977); ''Cine Golden Eagle Award.'' *''Water: The Source of Life'' (1984): for the American Pavilion, 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. Concert Works *''Toward Time’s Receding'' (1972); Orchestra. *''A Lyric Symphony'' (1980); Orchestra, Friedheim Award, Honorable Mention. *''Sonata for Flute and Piano, to

Albert Tipton Albert Tipton (March 16, 1917 – October 5, 1997) was an American flutist, pianist and conductor. In 1966, ''Time'' placed Albert Tipton amongst the "30 first-rate flutists" in the United States and Europe. He studied with William Kincaid at the ...

and Mary Norris,'' (revised 1982). *''For Cello'' (1989); Solo Cello, Fallen Leaf Press, Berkeley, CA. *''Three concert etudes: for flute alone'' (1989); Fallen Leaf Press, Berkeley, CA. *''9 Miniatures : (three sets of three)'' (1993); Violin, Cello and Piano, Fallen Leaf Press, Berkeley, CA. *''Lake Music'' (2004); Solo Alto Flute, in ''New Music for Solo Alto/Bass Flute,''

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

References

External links

Opera Glass
*

1926 births 2021 deaths 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers American opera composers Male opera composers American classical flautists People from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Bowling Green State University faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign School of Music alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century flautists {{flautist-stub