Author: S.Robb

Stephen is the Music Director of the Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra and Delta Community Music School where he brings his passion for music education to life.

Spring update

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May update

I just returned from a day at Whistler BC giving clarinet clinics at this year’s Cantando Music Fesitval.  It was a fun day working with over 100 clarinetists in high school bands from as far away as Ottawa Ontario.   Congrats to Dennis Prime for continuing to put together such a great event each year.

Our big spring youth orchestra concert was this patt April 19 at Genesis Theatre here in Ladner featuring three of our concerto soloists (Senior winds, Senior String and Symphony divisions) It was a joy working with all 3 of them, I hope to have some video and recordings ready soon!
Our final concert of the season is Saturday May 30 at Gateway feattruing all of the divisons of RDYO,  I will be conducting Christopher Tyler Nickel’s Celebration and a massed orchestra of our Senior Strings, members of Senior Winds and Symphony with Mendelssohns Symphony No. 5, the reformation – 4th movement..  Senior winds will be peformaing a brand new arrangment of mine of Piazolla’s Oblivion.

On the jazz front, Take 5 Delta has a date coming up in June at Guilt and Co on June 3, at 7 pm.  Come check us out.

Galiano Trio will be performing at the Scandinavian Midsummer Fesitval in Burnaby on Saturday June 20, we open the festivities at 10 am. 

Student Achievements
Congrats to Ivan C and Tintin for taking part in the VAYA music ffestival this spring  Both were awarded Gold Standard

Congrats to Liam S for being chosen to participate in the BCRMTA Student Composers’ Club iheld at the Canadian Music Centre on May 3rd 

 

Galiano Trio in concert

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There and Back again

Sunday January 11, 3 pm – Ladner United Church
TIx $10 at the door

There and Back again… Old Wine, New bottles… 

This is somewhat of a theme with this group, David Boddington on EWI creating a wide variety of traditional sounds (old sounds on a new instrument)  with Donella and Stephen Robb on clarinet and bass clarinet. 

This concert explores music from the Baroque and Renaissance eras, music from Bach, Bevin, Praetorius, and Byrd.  Then later in the program we explore newer music based on music from that era with works by Grieg, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Warlock and Respighi.  

All arranged and orchestrated masterfully by David Boddington for the trio. 

“photo from performance last June at the Scandinavian Festival in Burnaby BC.”

 

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Happy Holidays

finally on our well deserved Christmas Break,  I hope everyone has a great holiday and some time to spend with family and friends.

Here is a clip from the house concert I gave in Tsawwassen ealier in December with David Braid

Hope you enjoy,  

 

House concert with David Braid

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Featuring David Braid, piano and Stephen Robb, clarinet. We will be performing a mix of orginal compositions and jazz standards in a tribute performnce to Canadian Clarinetist Phil Nimmons (1923-2024).

Tribute to Phil Nimmons

I am very fortunate to have crossed paths last December with Canadian pianist and composer David Braid.  David was passing through BC on tour and performing with some what we discovered were mutual friends of both of ours.   This lead to a conversation of what the two of us might plan together if Daivd found himself once again on tour through the region.

This led to this idea for a house concert featuring David’s friend and colleague , the late great jazz clarinetist and educator Phil Nimmons.(1923-2024). Phil Nimons grew up here in BC, but was a very big deal on the Toronto scene for several decades with both small and big bands, including the Nimmons 9+6 jazz orchestra. He was on faculty at both University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario (London). 

For this concert we have chosen to feature some classical genre works composed both by David and by Phil Nimmons.  These works are what I would describe as being jazz influenced, and will be quite accessible to the house concert audience normally associated with this house concert series that we will be performing on.  We wil also be performing some of Phil’s own jazz composititions, and some classic standards that are assoociated with Phil and also the genre of jazz clarinet and piano together.

We are graciously appreaciative of Yvonne offering her home to us and inviting us to perform on her house concert series “Yvonne’s on the Hill”  You can read more about David on his website

 

 

Summer 2025

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A busy Summer

This past summer saw the 21st anniversary of our South Delta Jazz Festival, which was held this past August at Southlands and at the Music School. Some of our strongest student performances fomr our senoir high scholol/ college ensemble, a wonderful group of young people to work wtih. Len Aruliah and Thomas Holden werer back to work with our students, along with Brent Gubbells, Elliot Polsky, Ron Samworth, Kris Bowerman, and myself

July saw another House concert peformance with the Kris Jay trio, playing clarinet, sax and piano,  and the Galiano Trio performed at the Scandinavian Festtival in June, with me on bass clarinet. 

We gave a faculty fundraiser concert here at the school in June , performing the Khatchaturian Trio, and some solo bass clarinet works by Michael Lowenstern.

On the student front, Congrats to Cole C. for being accepted to study Music Composition at McGill University this fall. I wish him all the best!

Coming up Next…

This Sunday  I am at Barnside Festival performing with Emmett Hatllid with our rep of old timey jazz standards. I will be on keys for this one.  

Saturday Sept. 20 I will be performing for the first time at a long standing coffee house event, the Wander Inn Cafe at the Lighthouse Church. I will be playing a work by Morton Gould  called “Benny’s Gig” with a former RDYO student of mine Marlena Loewen on double bass.  It is a duo written for the King of Swing Benny Goodman, the last mvt was his 70th birthday gift from the composer. We will be playing 3 of the short pieces.  I will also be playing a short set of solo piano, jazz standards, and sitting in with another group on keys.  Hope to see some familar faces there.

“Shiny Red keyboard setup for 3 gigs up at Whistler BC over the Labour Day Weekend.

 

Winter update

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Welcome to 2025

It has been a busy time as we head to spring break. 

Student Achievments
Congrats to Ivan C – RCM level 8 clarinet – First Class Honours
Congrats to Emily – RCM level 8 saxophone
Congrats to Cole –  starting to recieve university acceptances for Music Composition for next year, we will see what he decides to do.

Busy now preparing for our big upcoming Spring concert with the RDYO Symphony,  Beethoven 5, Schubert Spring Symphony, and a rther ambitious choice for us,  Night, herself by local composer Jocelyn Morlock (2017). A beautiful but conceptually difficult piece for our young musicians. Looking forward to this performance on April 13 at Equinox Theatre in South Delta.

Spring Break Camp this year for the Jazz Workshop coming up at the end of the month (details here) and of courser our summer camp will be back. 

I recorded an EP last month with Emmett Martin Hatlelid, will be coming out some time soon, here is a sneek peek

The cliip on the side is a little rehearsal band that i have started playing keys with, local musicians from here in Delta.  We will see where it goes.

 

“Take 5 Delta .” – livei in concert

 

 

Fall update 2024

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Autumn is here!

After a busy summer of travel to Clarinet Fest in Ireland and our own South Delta Jazz Festival, I am back with a busy Fall schedule. 

Various performances with Emmett Hatlelid – last Friday of the month at Petras for the fall
– October, November and December. 

A group pic from our youth orchestra camp in October at Camp Stillwood with RDYO. An ammzing two days of working with about 120 students and 6 faculty.

November 7 is the reprise of the Vancouver InterArts Collective (VIC). Under Brad’s leadership once again we will present a provocative sixty-minute structured improvisation that combines music, dance, soundscape, sung and spoken word, real-time visual art, and creative lighting. Featuring Brad Muirhead (project lead, trombone), Jay Hirabayashi and Barbara Bourget (dance/movement), DB Boyko (voice), Isaac Rosen-Purcell (clarinet/electronics), Stephen Robb (clarinet/ EWI), Nick Apivor and Gary Wideman (percussion).

So is it “art as language”?  Are we having a real conversation?  Yes, but purely in terms of our various art forms.  

I will be performing on clarinet with electronics processing, and EWI (electronic wind instrument) The project is the brainchild of Brad Muirhead, who has been the artist-in-residence at Moberly Arts Centre this past spring.

On November 17 I have the good fortune to perform with Van Django again, this time with RDYO in f fundraising concert for the Vancouver Centennial Rotary Club.   Looking forward to this rare opportunity to perform with Van Django, I will be playing some jazz clarinet too..

 

 

 

Summer 2024

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Clarinetfest 2024

For the first time since COVID we made it to Clarinetfest in Dublin Ireland this year. Hats off to the organizers of this event who did a great job!  Also good to see how alive our art form is with so much new music being played, and a new generation of young artists coming along to replace us older gen musicians.

What is especially noticeable is the new growth and vigor in bass clarinet playing, both in technical advances, and musical advances pushing the art form further along with innovative players such as Micheal Lowenstein, Jonathan Russel (Improbably Beasts), and Conference organizer Sarah Watts all performing at this year’s conference. 

 

 

Spring update 2024

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It is hard to believe it is May already…

This Sunday, May 5 I will be performing at Ladner United Church in their “Sunday at 3 pm Series” with the Galiano Trio. I am playing Bass clarinet this time, we are presenting a wonderful selection of classical repertoire re-imagined for Wind Trio.   
Sunday, May 5 – 3 pm – Ladner United Church, 4960 48th St. Delta  – $10 at the Door

Works by French composers Rameau, Poulenc, Bizet, and Claude Bolling.  The Brits are represented by Ralph Vaughn Williams, Butterworth, and more. The program is rounded out with some Resphigi, Gershwin, Joplin, and Canadian works by Bill Douglas and Anita Sleeman.
link to Delta Optimist article

It has been a busy term working with students and my youth orchestra. 

Last week I had the privilege of working with many clarinet students participating in this year’s Cantendo Band Festival at Whistler BC.  I conducted a day of clarinet masterclasses for this year’s festival. Thanks to Denis Prime and Greg Hurst for all your support.

April 13 was our WInds and Symphony Concert with RDYO. We presented William Walton’s Viola Concerto, Florence Prices’s Symphony No 1 in E minor, and Marquez Danzon No. 2. I am very proud of what the orchestra has achieved in the past few months.

I also conducted our combined winds through Holst’s Jupiter from the Planets. This was quite challenging for this group, but a great learning experience for them and they gave a really good performance of the work in the end.  Our Junior winds conductor William Broverman conducted two other pieces as well to round out the program.

Student Achievements – Spring 2024

VAYA festival – Cole C. – Composition Class award – Bronze Award 

National Youth Band – Congratulations to Frank for winning acceptance 2 years in a row.

Congratulations to Ivan C. for achieving First-class honors on his RCM Level 7 clarinet exam!

 

 

winter update

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Fall 2023

Another Busy Fall!

RDYO held several outreach concerns for the first time since COVID-19 shut everything down. It was fun and felt good to have the orchestra back performing for the general public again in a festive setting. 

It is always great to perform with the students as well, and share the stage with these fine young performers!   

Thanks to everyone who came to our Winter concerts with RDYO and DCMS.

H