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Biography

Robert Baldwin is Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the University of Utah, and Music Director and Conductor for the Salt Lake Symphony.  He is also the founding conductor for Sinfonia Salt Lake, a professional chamber orchestra that made its critically acclaimed debut in 2016. In 2019, he was appointed to an adjunct position at the Wuhan University Center for the Arts in Wuhan, China.

Dr. Baldwin has appeared across the North America, Europe and Asia as a conductor and performer on viola and viola d’amore. International conducting appearances include the Hunan Symphony and Wuhan University Orchestras in China, Busan Maru International Music Festival in South Korea, Eutin Festspiele in Germany, Kuopio Academy of Music in Finland, and the Hermitage Camerata in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and tours with the University of Utah Chamber Orchestra to London, Vienna, Graz and Salzburg. In demand as a guest conductor and clinician, he also has conducted performances with the Utah Arts Festival, Great Falls Symphony, Lafayette Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Lexington Singers, Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, Abilene Tri-Collegiate Opera, and numerous All-State and regional festival orchestras across the U.S.A.  His performances and ensembles have received international attention and have been featured on New York’s WQXR Classical Radio, and nationally broadcast radio programs, including Performance Today, Highway 89 and Weekend Edition.  Dr. Baldwin’s preconcert talks and community music classes are popular mainstays of the Utah Arts scene.  His award-winning blog on music and creativity, Before the Downbeat, can be viewed at: http://beforethedownbeat.wordpress.com/

Also an accomplished violist and viola d’amore player, he has had a variety of experiences, including guest appearances with the Amadeus Trio, and both the Saint Petersburg and Stanford String Quartets, as well as at the Sedona Chamber Music Festival, SMU Music Festival and Park City International Music Festival. He was violist of the Arizona-based Coconino Chamber Ensemble from 1989-1999, and was principal violist for the Flagstaff Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and Arizona Opera.  Solo and chamber appearances on viola and viola d’amore include recitals and concertos in the United States, Germany and Mexico. 

Previously, he has held faculty and conducting positions at the University of Kentucky, Lexington Philharmonic, New American Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony and Northern Arizona University. Dr. Baldwin studied conducting in the United States and in Saint Petersburg, Russia, holding degrees in viola performance from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Iowa, and a DMA in orchestral conducting from the University of Arizona. He makes his home in Salt Lake City, Utah where, in his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and spending time with his family. He is a published poet as well, his works appearing in recent issues of Utah Life, Grey Sparrow Journal, Haiku Journal and Poetry Quarterly. Thirty, his first chapbook of poetry, will be published in 2022.

Courses Taught

• Instrumental Conducting Seminar
• Utah Philharmonia
• Chamber Orchestra
• University Campus Symphony
• Conducting - Private Lessons
• Seminar in Instrumental Literature and Resources

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Creative Activities & Research

• 2006-pres. Conductor, Salt Lake Symphony, 2006-Present 
• 2016-pres. Founding Conductor, Sinfonia Salt Lake, 2016-Present
• 2021 The Geography of the Score, An Approach to Score Study and Reading. published in CODA Journal, (College Orchestra Director’s Association, Vol. XIV, 2021 Issue).
• 2018 Guest Conductor, Wuhan University Symphony Orchestra, Wuhan, China. 
• 2017 Guest Conductor and Adjudicator, Busan-Maru International Music Festival, Busan South Korea 
• 2017 Guest Conductor, Hunan Symphony, Changsha, China
• 2016 Conductor, World Premiere Performance of Thy Will Be Done, A New Easter Oratorio by Angela Rice. Global Creative Connections, Lexington, KY. (March 2016 and 2017)
• 2016 Guest Conductor, Great Falls Symphony, Great Falls, MT 
• 2012 Guest Conductor, Lafayette (IN) Symphony 
• 2011 Guest Conductor and Performer, Eutin Music Festival, Germany

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Teaching 

• 2021 DMA student, Claudia Restrepo (2018) chosen as Assistant Librarian for the Utah Symphony, after completing apprenticeships with the Chicago Symphony and Detroit Symphony. 
• 2021 Guest Lectures for Mountain Spring Music Festival, Draper, UT
• 2019 Honorary Adjunct Professorship, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China 
• (3-year appointment to include future visits for concerts, lectures. Initiation of activities delayed due to pandemic).
• 2019 Graduating DMA student, Stephanie Rhodes Russell, chosen as assistant conductor with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
• 2018 University Teaching Grant ($7000) to support a performance and presentation of Middle Eastern music with Monika Jalili and her ensemble, members of the Silk Road Ensemble with the University of Utah Philharmonia, with accompanying master classes and lectures.
• 2015 Guest Lecturer, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island, WA. 
• 2017 Career Services Faculty Mentor Recognition Award, University of Utah
• 2012 University of Utah Chamber Orchestra Tour to London, England
• 2012 OSHER Continuing Education. Developed and taught a new class on Music and Culture: “What Great Classical Music Teaches Us About Ourselves.” (Continuing Education).

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Service

• 2021 Conductor, Adjudicator, California All State String Orchestra (online due to pandemic)
• 2019 University Student Success Presidential Task Force, Graduate Student Success Working Group, 2019
• 2018 Guest Conductor, Cherry Creek School District Honor Orchestra Concert, Aurora, CO
• 2017 Adjudicator, Nevada State Orchestra Festival, Las Vegas, NV
• 2011-16 College Orchestra Director’s Association (CODA), National Executive Committee/National Secretary 2008-2015. National Vice President, 2015. Host of the National CODA Conference, January 14-16, 2016 in Salt Lake City. 
• 2017 Search Committee Member, College of Fine Arts Dean’s Search
• 2016, 2013 Adjudicator, Stradivarius International Violin Competition Salt Lake City, UT (Presiding Judge for the Utah Division of the competition, 2016 and 2013)
• 2016 Adjudicator, Idaho Regional Large Orchestra Festival, Boise, ID
• 2014 Conductor, Arizona All-State Orchestra, Tempe, AZ
• 2011 Conductor, Utah All-State Orchestra, Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City, UT