Robert Blocker

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Robert Blocker

| title1 = Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music, Yale University

| termstart1 = 2006

| term_end1 = 2023

| predecessor1 =

| successor1 = José García-León

| title2 = Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Southern Methodist University

| termstart2 = 2005

| term_end2 = 2006

| predecessor2 = Ross C. Murfin

| successor2 = Paul W. Ludden

| title3 = Dean of Music, Yale University

| term_start3 = 1995

| term_end3 = 2005

| predecessor3 =

| successor3 =

| title4 = Founding Dean, School of the Arts and Architecture

| term_start4 = 1991

| term_end4 = 1995

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| successor4 =

| title5 = Dean, College of Music

| term_start5 = 1988

| term_end5 = 1991

| predecessor5 =

| successor5 =

| title6 = Dean, School of Music, Baylor University

| term_start6 = 1983

| term_end6 = 1988

| predecessor6 =

| successor6 =

| title7 = Dean, School of Music, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

| term_start7 = 1981

| term_end7 = 1983

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| successor7 =

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|09|04}}

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| education = Furman University (BA)
North Texas (MM, DMA)

| employer =

| occupation = Music school dean
Music educator

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}}

Robert Blocker (born September 4, 1946) is an American classical pianist,Who's Who in American Music: Classical, R.R. Bowker, New York (1983) {{OCLC|10206087}}International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory, eighth edition, International Who's Who in Music, Cambridge, England (1977) {{OCLC|3493652}}International Who's Who in Music and Musicians' Directory, ninth edition, edited by Adrian Gaster (1919–1989), International Who's Who in Music, Cambridge, England (1980) {{OCLC|655818187}} music educator, and university administrator,Who's Who in America, 45th edition, 1988–1989, Marquis Who's Who, Wilmette (1988) {{OCLC|18583716}}Who's Who in America, 46th edition, 1990–1991, Marquis Who's Who, Wilmette (1990) {{OCLC|22631411}}Who's Who in America, 47th edition, 1992–1993, Marquis Who's Who, New Providence, New Jersey (1992) {{OCLC|477185208}} who served as Dean of the Yale School of Music since July 1995 until 2023. He is a Steinway artist.

Education

Blocker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University in 1968. He earned graduate degrees — Master of Music in 1970 and Doctor of Musical Arts in 1972 — from the University of North Texas College of Music, where he studied with eminent American pianist Richard Brannan Cass (1931–2009), an alumnus of Furman and Juilliard and 1953 Fulbright Scholar to the National School of Music of Paris where he had studied with Nadia Boulanger.Richard Cass, Influential KC Musician and Teacher, Dies at 78, Kansas City Star, November 30, 2009 In 1986, while serving as dean at Baylor, Blocker was a fellow at the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard in 1986.

Honorary degrees

2014 — Doctor of Music, University of South Carolina
2006 — Professor of Piano, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing
2003 — Doctor of Music, Converse College
1995 — Master of Arts, Yale University
1992 — Doctor of Humanities, Furman University

Honors & awards

Elm-Ivy Award, Yale University, April 2008
Founder's Award, PORTALS, The Hotchkiss School
President’s Citation for Extraordinary Service, University of North Texas, 2005
Honorary Professor of Piano, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, 2004
Elected Member, The Grolier Club, New York City, a society for bibliophiles, 2003
Yale Tercentennial Medal recipient, 2001
Featured in Steinway and Sons film commemorating 300th anniversary of the piano, 2000
Distinguished Alumni Award, Furman University, 1999
Order of the Palmetto, 1999 (highest distinction of service awarded by the state of South Carolina)
Outstanding Professor, Baylor University, 1986
Artist-in-Residence, South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, 1985
Teaching Excellence Award Grant, Stephen F. Austin State University, 1980
Artist Teacher, National Piano Foundation, 1980–1981
Artist Roster, Texas Commission on the Arts, 1978–1981
Artist Faculty, Brevard Music Center, 1974–1976
Outstanding Teacher Award, Brevard College, 1975
Texas State Doctoral Fellowship, 1970–1972
Outstanding Doctoral Candidate, University of North Texas College of Music, 1972
Outstanding Masters Candidate, University of North Texas College of Music, 1970
Rotary Scholar, 1964–1968
Presser Scholar, 1964–1968

Selected publications

{{Ordered list|list-style-type=lower-roman

| The Arts: Reflections of Society, Design for Arts in Education, July/August 1988 {{OCLC|5004435}}

| Philanthropy and the Arts: Weaving the Cultural Fabric of Society, Design for Arts in Education, March/April 1987 {{OCLC|5004435}}

| A Performer Analyzes, Noteworthy, Winter, 1981 {{OCLC|9250033}}

| The Arts: A Basic Educational Component, The American Music Teacher, September/October 1981; proceedings of the Symposium in Rhetorico of the Arts, Federation of North Texas Area Universities (1980) {{OCLC|1480467}}

| Teacher Certification Requirements in Texas: The Unending Struggle for Quality, proceedings of the annual meeting of the National Association of Schools of Music, Chicago (1980)

| Chopin's Revolution, Piano Guild Notes, September/October 1978 {{OCLC|1004537}}

}}

Selected discography

Mozart, Piano Concertos Nos. 12, 13, and 14, Naxos Records (2010) {{OCLC|690227850|767878821}}

: Recorded May 14–16, 2007, Morse Recital Hall, Sprague Hall, The School of Music, Yale University

: Blocker, piano; Biava Quartet

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 3, Credia Classics (S. Korea) (2002)

: Recorded live, July 12, 2002, Beethoven Festival, Woosong Arts Center, Daejon, South Korea

: Blocker, piano

: Daejon Philharmonic, Shinik Hahm, conductor

Family & growing up

Blocker is a graduate of the St. Andrews Parish High School, which as since merged with West Ashley High School in the Charleston County School District of South Carolina. He was president of the Charleston County Student Council and is a member of the St. Andrews Parish High School Hall of Fame.

References

External links

[http://www.robertblocker.org/bios.html Blocker’s personal website]
[http://music.yale.edu/faculty/blocker.html Bio — Yale School of Music]
[http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/profiles/blocker.shtml Bio — Yale School of Management]

Category:1946 births

Category:American male classical pianists

Category:American choral conductors

Category:American male conductors (music)

Category:Furman University alumni

Category:University of North Texas College of Music alumni

Category:University of North Texas College of Music faculty

Category:Yale University faculty

Category:UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture faculty

Category:Baylor University faculty

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:Stephen F. Austin State University faculty