Rob Teehan, Composer-In-Residence

Rob Teehan, Composer-In-Residence
	Composer and tuba player Rob Teehan is in the early stages of what promises to be a brilliant career. In 2010 he became, at age 27, one of the youngest composers ever nominated for a JUNO award in the category "Classical Composition of the Year"; his nominated composition "Dreams of Flying", commissioned and recorded by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada under the direction of Alain Trudel, was his first orchestral work. Rob will be composer-in-residence at the 2010 Colours of Music Festival in Barrie, ON, where he will compose new works for Duo Concertante (violin and piano), Sinfonia Toronto (string orchestra), and Cantores Celestes (women’s choir). In November 2010, Rob will once again collaborate with conductor Alain Trudel on a world premiere, this time a new work for brass band commissioned by the Hannaford Street Silver Band. Previous commissioners include the Silver Birch String Quartet (featuring accordionist Alexander Sevastien of Quartetto Gelato), the Calgary Stampede Showband, Deer Park United Church, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Young New Yorker’s Chorus, the Lansdowne Saxophone Quartet, and many others. A gifted performer, Rob is widely respected in Toronto’s jazz and commercial music scene for his unique ability as a sousaphone player, filling the role of bass player in a stylistically diverse array of projects. These include singer Saidah Baba Talibah’s soul/rock orchestra (“SolRawkestra”), who will perform at Toronto’s 2010 Pride Festival, and recently headlined the Kuumba Festival at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre; Rob also performs with his younger brother, singer/songwriter and saxophonist Nick Teehan. Other regular projects include Aline Morales (traditional Brazilian), the Heavyweights Brass Band (New Orleans brass/funk), the Woodchopper’s Association (free improvisation), the Boxcar Boys (gypsy jazz/ klezmer), and the Magnolia Brass Band (traditional New Orleans jazz). Rob remains an active freelance tuba player in Toronto’s classical scene. Rob is also a professional chorister, singing with the Church of the Redeemer Choir, Toronto Choral Artists, and Soundstreams Canada’s Choir 21. In June of 2009 he was a chorus member in R. Murray Schafer’s new opera “The Children’s Crusade”, which was nominated for three 2010 DORA awards including “Outstanding New Musical / Opera”. Rob’s lifelong involvement in choral music has given him a special appreciation for the idiom as a composer; he has written over two dozen choral works and won several awards, including first prizes in the Grace Church on the Hill St. Cecilia Choral Composition Competition (2009), the Young New Yorker’s Chorus Young Composer’s Competition (2008), and the Vancouver Chamber Choir Young Composer’s Competition (2005). Rob Teehan taught undergraduate tuba and euphonium at the University of Windsor, and maintains a private studio. Born in Toronto and raised in Oshawa, Rob earned his Master of Music degree from Indiana University (2007) where he studied tuba and composition; he earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto (2005). Rob Teehan currently lives in Toronto.

Composer and tuba player Rob Teehan is in the early stages of what promises to be a brilliant career. In 2010 he became, at age 27, one of the youngest composers ever nominated for a JUNO award in the category "Classical Composition of the Year"; his nominated composition "Dreams of Flying", commissioned and recorded by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada under the direction of Alain Trudel, was his first orchestral work. Rob will be composer-in-residence at the 2010 Colours of Music Festival in Barrie, ON, where he will compose new works for Duo Concertante (violin and piano), Sinfonia Toronto (string orchestra), and Cantores Celestes (women’s choir). In November 2010, Rob will once again collaborate with conductor Alain Trudel on a world premiere, this time a new work for brass band commissioned by the Hannaford Street Silver Band. Previous commissioners include the Silver Birch String Quartet (featuring accordionist Alexander Sevastien of Quartetto Gelato), the Calgary Stampede Showband, Deer Park United Church, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Young New Yorker’s Chorus, the Lansdowne Saxophone Quartet, and many others.

A gifted performer, Rob is widely respected in Toronto’s jazz and commercial music scene for his unique ability as a sousaphone player, filling the role of bass player in a stylistically diverse array of projects. These include singer Saidah Baba Talibah’s soul/rock orchestra (“SolRawkestra”), who will perform at Toronto’s 2010 Pride Festival, and recently headlined the Kuumba Festival at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre; Rob also performs with his younger brother, singer/songwriter and saxophonist Nick Teehan. Other regular projects include Aline Morales (traditional Brazilian), the Heavyweights Brass Band (New Orleans brass/funk), the Woodchopper’s Association (free improvisation), the Boxcar Boys (gypsy jazz/ klezmer), and the Magnolia Brass Band (traditional New Orleans jazz). Rob remains an active freelance tuba player in Toronto’s classical scene.

Rob is also a professional chorister, singing with the Church of the Redeemer Choir, Toronto Choral Artists, and Soundstreams Canada’s Choir 21. In June of 2009 he was a chorus member in R. Murray Schafer’s new opera “The Children’s Crusade”, which was nominated for three 2010 DORA awards including “Outstanding New Musical / Opera”. Rob’s lifelong involvement in choral music has given him a special appreciation for the idiom as a composer; he has written over two dozen choral works and won several awards, including first prizes in the Grace Church on the Hill St. Cecilia Choral Composition Competition (2009), the Young New Yorker’s Chorus Young Composer’s Competition (2008), and the Vancouver Chamber Choir Young Composer’s Competition (2005).

Rob Teehan taught undergraduate tuba and euphonium at the University of Windsor, and maintains a private studio. Born in Toronto and raised in Oshawa, Rob earned his Master of Music degree from Indiana University (2007) where he studied tuba and composition; he earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto (2005). Rob Teehan currently lives in Toronto.