Revolution is the carnival of the opressed.
Long Bio
Dr. ROBERT SMITH (Ph.D., M.Mus, B.A. Hons)
Rob Smith is a composer, improviser and performer active on the Cardiff music scene since 1983. He has worked as a busker, professional composer, performer, improviser, teacher and workshop leader. He has performed throughout Europe and in USA. With Wonderbrass he represented Wales in an international Jazz competition in Viennes, France in 1996. He has also worked collaboratively with musicians from Capetown, South Africa, Romania, France, Belgium, Germany, Gambia, Senegal as well as UK.
He teaches Performing Arts and Music at the University of South Wales. He has written music for theatre, film, television and radio and has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe as well as in West Africa and USA. He has research interests in community music (leading the band Wonderbrass) music for media and carnival performance. He is course leader for BA (Hons) Performing Arts.
Academic and Professional Qualifications:
Ph.D, (Wonderbrass: Building a community through music)
University of Glamorgan/University of South Wales, July 2013
M.Mus in Composition and Music Technology from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (University of Wales) 2006
Certificate in Music Tutor Training Skills, Dartington College of the Arts, 1992
B.A. Hons in Music, University of Nottingham, 1981
EMPLOYMENT:
2006-now; Senior Lecturer in Popular Music and Drama at University of South Wales
1983-now: freelance composer, performer, improviser and musical director.
1993-2006: Visiting, then Associate, then Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University.
1987-1989: Clerical officer in NHS
SCORES FOR FILMS,TELEVISION and MEDIA:
‘The Knowledge’ 1996 and ‘Overland’ 2001 dir. Chris Forster
‘Minim’ 1999 dir. Chris Forster. In 1999 this film won both the D M. Davies Award at the International Film Festival of Wales and 3rd jury prize at the International Short Film Festival at Uppsala, Sweden.
‘The Confectioner’ 1997 dir. Margaret Constantas. (BBC Cominssion)
Score for 50 minute film about artist Gwen John for Green Bay in
Jan 2002 screened by BBC in 2004.
Score for film ‘The Portrait’’ by Chris Forster, 2014 (20 mins) This film won Best Short BAFTA Cymru 2014.
‘I thought I heard Buddy Bolden Shout’ Composed score for this radio play by Larry Allan, first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 o 12/2/06
Six scores for TV (4 series and 2 one-offs) for Raw Charm Ltd.
OTHER COMPOSITIONS
Selected compositions include:
1986-97 Composed several scores for theatre including three musicals, Race 1988, Starcross’d 1990 and Dangerous Acquaintances 1997 for theatre groups including
Gradual Decline, Moving Being and Hijinx.
1994 ‘Two Arctic Songs’ performed in Cardiff University by London Sinfonietta Voices.
July 1998 ‘The Bridge (Y Bont)’ for Jazz Big Band, Steel Pans, Samba Percussion, Indian Percussion Group, Gospel Choir (S, M-s, A), Folk Singer, Bhangra Singer, Rapper and Narrator(T).
June -July 2000 ‘Crossing Borders’ for Community Music Groups in Torfaen (scored for Choir, Brass Band, Jazz Group, Samba Percussion and Trumpet Soloist).
2001 ‘Toccata, Lachrymae, Tenebrae’ for Viol Consort, Electric Guitar, Flute and Soprano sax. First performed in Alkmaar, Netherlands 2.3.01.
August 2005, Composition ‘The Meeting Place’ for Amampondo and Wonderbrass premiered at Brecon International Jazz Festival.
May 2006 Composed ‘The Idea of North’ for strings, soprano sax, bass clarinet, laptop & electronics. First performed in Bath International Music Festival.
.
PUBLICATIONS:
Sept 2023: Collective Joy: The Spirituality of the Community Big Band Wonderbrass
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091099
Album ‘8 Million Stories’ by The Naked Citizens released 2018 on Country Mile Records (including spin-off album ‘Space Touring’ on Nang Records). Radio airplay on BBC Radio 6 and Radio Wales.
Scores and Recordings of ‘The Bridge/Y Bont’ and ‘Torri Ffyniau/Crossing Borders’ are in British Library’s National Community Music Archive.
Articles in Journal of Theatre Adaptation, Jazz Research Journal, Journal of Popular Music Education, and KES International.
Chapter ‘Immersion versus Alienation; Listening to Life on Mars’ in book :‘Life on Mars; from Manchester to New York’, University of Wales Press 2012. p.41-54
Chapter on Wonderbrass in book on ‘This is Our Music’: The cultural politics of Jazz Collectives, edited by Tony Whyton and Nick Gebhardt. Routledge USA, published 2015.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Founder and Musical Director of ‘Wonderbrass’ 1992-present. Wonderbrass is a community jazz big band.
Tutor on Community Music Wales’ Music Tutor Training Programme. 1995-present.
Rob Smith is a composer, improviser and performer active on the Cardiff music scene since 1983. He has worked as a busker, professional composer, performer, improviser, teacher and workshop leader. He has performed throughout Europe and in USA. With Wonderbrass he represented Wales in an international Jazz competition in Viennes, France in 1996. He has also worked collaboratively with musicians from Capetown, South Africa, Romania, France, Belgium, Germany, Gambia, Senegal as well as UK.
He teaches Performing Arts and Music at the University of South Wales. He has written music for theatre, film, television and radio and has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe as well as in West Africa and USA. He has research interests in community music (leading the band Wonderbrass) music for media and carnival performance. He is course leader for BA (Hons) Performing Arts.
Academic and Professional Qualifications:
Ph.D, (Wonderbrass: Building a community through music)
University of Glamorgan/University of South Wales, July 2013
M.Mus in Composition and Music Technology from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (University of Wales) 2006
Certificate in Music Tutor Training Skills, Dartington College of the Arts, 1992
B.A. Hons in Music, University of Nottingham, 1981
EMPLOYMENT:
2006-now; Senior Lecturer in Popular Music and Drama at University of South Wales
1983-now: freelance composer, performer, improviser and musical director.
1993-2006: Visiting, then Associate, then Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University.
1987-1989: Clerical officer in NHS
SCORES FOR FILMS,TELEVISION and MEDIA:
‘The Knowledge’ 1996 and ‘Overland’ 2001 dir. Chris Forster
‘Minim’ 1999 dir. Chris Forster. In 1999 this film won both the D M. Davies Award at the International Film Festival of Wales and 3rd jury prize at the International Short Film Festival at Uppsala, Sweden.
‘The Confectioner’ 1997 dir. Margaret Constantas. (BBC Cominssion)
Score for 50 minute film about artist Gwen John for Green Bay in
Jan 2002 screened by BBC in 2004.
Score for film ‘The Portrait’’ by Chris Forster, 2014 (20 mins) This film won Best Short BAFTA Cymru 2014.
‘I thought I heard Buddy Bolden Shout’ Composed score for this radio play by Larry Allan, first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 o 12/2/06
Six scores for TV (4 series and 2 one-offs) for Raw Charm Ltd.
OTHER COMPOSITIONS
Selected compositions include:
1986-97 Composed several scores for theatre including three musicals, Race 1988, Starcross’d 1990 and Dangerous Acquaintances 1997 for theatre groups including
Gradual Decline, Moving Being and Hijinx.
1994 ‘Two Arctic Songs’ performed in Cardiff University by London Sinfonietta Voices.
July 1998 ‘The Bridge (Y Bont)’ for Jazz Big Band, Steel Pans, Samba Percussion, Indian Percussion Group, Gospel Choir (S, M-s, A), Folk Singer, Bhangra Singer, Rapper and Narrator(T).
June -July 2000 ‘Crossing Borders’ for Community Music Groups in Torfaen (scored for Choir, Brass Band, Jazz Group, Samba Percussion and Trumpet Soloist).
2001 ‘Toccata, Lachrymae, Tenebrae’ for Viol Consort, Electric Guitar, Flute and Soprano sax. First performed in Alkmaar, Netherlands 2.3.01.
August 2005, Composition ‘The Meeting Place’ for Amampondo and Wonderbrass premiered at Brecon International Jazz Festival.
May 2006 Composed ‘The Idea of North’ for strings, soprano sax, bass clarinet, laptop & electronics. First performed in Bath International Music Festival.
.
PUBLICATIONS:
Sept 2023: Collective Joy: The Spirituality of the Community Big Band Wonderbrass
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091099
Album ‘8 Million Stories’ by The Naked Citizens released 2018 on Country Mile Records (including spin-off album ‘Space Touring’ on Nang Records). Radio airplay on BBC Radio 6 and Radio Wales.
Scores and Recordings of ‘The Bridge/Y Bont’ and ‘Torri Ffyniau/Crossing Borders’ are in British Library’s National Community Music Archive.
Articles in Journal of Theatre Adaptation, Jazz Research Journal, Journal of Popular Music Education, and KES International.
Chapter ‘Immersion versus Alienation; Listening to Life on Mars’ in book :‘Life on Mars; from Manchester to New York’, University of Wales Press 2012. p.41-54
Chapter on Wonderbrass in book on ‘This is Our Music’: The cultural politics of Jazz Collectives, edited by Tony Whyton and Nick Gebhardt. Routledge USA, published 2015.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Founder and Musical Director of ‘Wonderbrass’ 1992-present. Wonderbrass is a community jazz big band.
Tutor on Community Music Wales’ Music Tutor Training Programme. 1995-present.
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