Homegrown: Scott Robbins
By Laura-Clare Thevenet
“My mission is to get people to make music an important facet of their lives, no matter whose music that may be, nor how that music may be experienced.”
Professor of Composition and Musicology at Converse College, Dr. Scott Robbins has quite a diverse musical history. His musical roots stem from popular music when he started to play guitar and drums in rock bands at a young age. Later, he went on to earn his Doctorate in Music at Florida State University studying Music Composition and Music Theory. Dr. Robbins teaches a wide variety of courses at Converse College including, music theory, composition, film music, video game music, creative ensemble, and several pop music courses.
In addition to being an educator, Dr. Robbins’ compositions have been widely performed and recognized with the Clefworks Composition Competition, Second International Sergei Prokofiev Composition Competition, Yale University’s Norfolk National Composition Prize, NACUSA Young Composers Award, ASCAP Foundation Grant to Young Composers, American Music Center Composer Assistance Award, Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, multiple awards from ASCAP and commissions from the SC Music Teachers Association. Groups that have performed, commissioned or recorded his works include the Czech Radio Symphony, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Loudon Symphony Orchestra, Moyzes Quartet, Ensemble Radieuse, Trio Chromos, Gregg Smith Singers, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra,and Dale Warland Singers. He has also written the soundtrack for the film, The Clearing, which received the CINE-Eagle award and has been broadcast on Bravo and HBO.
Robbins still maintains his pop music roots by frequently playing in local Spartanburg rock band 4 Out of 5 Doctors. This influence can be seen in several of his compositions, including his piece Soul Kiss Deluxe that will be featured in the Homegrown concert. This unique composition was originally written for a competition requiring contestants to write a dance movement for flute, clarinet, and cello. Robbins fittingly decided to stray from the traditional minuet and wrote a pop-infused piece.
Soul Kiss Deluxe has a lush and mischievous sound that seems to playfully flirt with listeners. Robbins attributes 70’s soul music for its influence on the piece, “I really like soul music a’ la Isaac Hayes, et al., so that smooth, early-1970s soul groove was my inspiration.”
