Robert Martin
Robert J. Martin (b. 1943) is known for music projects based on images and metaphors. Martin's compositions and titles are often image-based, giving listeners a puzzle to solve or an idea to listen for. Examples of Martin's image-centered pieces include the solo piano works 100 Views of Mt. Fuji: 100 Pieces in 100 minutes: Homage to Hokusai and stone & feather (Parma release Playful Edge of the Wave). Also: Hommage à Tom et Jerry for soloist alternating between flute and piccolo (recorded by Ronda Ford Benson, available from www.rondaford.com) and The Owl and the Pussycat for harp and flute (on Metamorphosis Collaboration III on Beauport Classical at www.beauportclassical.com.
Martin studied with composer Herbert Brun and cybernetician Heinz von Foerster, resulting in an interdisciplinary doctoral thesis at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Emeritus at Truman State University, Martin has been a long-term jurist for a well-known international composition competition, and both a curator and programmer for the New Horizons Music Festival at Truman State University (2013 and 2014). He is a member of the Society of Composers, the Iowa Composers Forum, and the American Society for Cybernetics. He has been a principal in over a dozen musicals where his experience has nurtured the desire to connect effectively with the audience through drama, image, and gesture through a new work, The Musicians of Bremen, a musical based on the fairytale by the Brothers Grimm (in progress).
Works for Percussion