Robert Baxter is a freelance trumpet player who lives in Blanefield. He began his musical life playing in local wind ensembles (including DCB) and brass bands in the Glasgow area, and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland from 1985-89. He works regularly with NYOS and West of Scotland Schools Orchestra as a tutor and is on the audition panels and has adjudicated numerous music competitions. Robert took over as Musical Director of the Dunbartonshire Concert Band in June, 2000, and is also the conductor of the Helensburgh Orchestral Society and the Dunbartonshire Wind Ensemble.
After gaining a BA degree from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1988 he continued with a year of postgraduate studies, during which he won the British Reserve Prize for Early Music. Since 1989 he has worked with all the major Scottish orchestras, in particular the BBC SSO and Scottish Ballet orchestra. He has also performed with the RSNO, Scottish Opera, City of Glasgow Philharmonic, the BBC SSO Brass Quintet, SCO Brass, the Goldberg Ensemble (Manchester), the New London Consort, Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
In 1990 Robert became involved in the field of early music, performing on the natural trumpet. He has been a soloist and an ensemble player with the Scottish Early Music Consort, worked in London and Italy with the New London Consort, and performed with many smaller ensembles throughout the country. Robert is a founder and director of the Scottish Trumpet Consort, comprising four natural trumpets and percussion, with performances across Scotland and at the Glasgow International Early Music Festival. A work written specially for the consort by Robert - a four movement "Dance Suite" - was premiered in Glasgow at the Festival in 1997. They were featured on BBC Radio Scotland's "The Score", and have performed at the Purcell conference from Exeter College, Oxford.
Robert also works with Athenaeum Brass, which was formed in 1985 when its members were young first year students at the RSAMD. They have given recitals at music clubs across Scotland and have performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, St. Andrews Festival, and the Aberdeen Alternative Festival. The quintet has broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and have featured on numerous occasions on BBC TV's "Songs of Praise". Working for the Council for Music in Hospitals, the quintet has given well over 100 concerts across Scotland, including three tours of the North and North East.
Recently, Robert has given solo recitals in Kelvingrove Art Gallery (Glasgow), St. Andrews, and at the Dunkeld Arts Festival, as well as being soloist with the St. Andrews University Chamber Orchestra and the 'Chansons' choir and orchestra, performing Haydn's trumpet concerto and Vivaldi's double trumpet concerto respectively. He also works frequently in the Canary Islands with the Orquesta de Sinfonica de Tenerife.
Alongside his playing commitments he has, since 1990, been trumpet instructor at Glenalmond College, Perthshire, where he is responsible for brass ensemble music and for arranging lunchtime brass recitals. Robert has also worked on a number of London West End shows such as CATS, Barnum, Sound of Music, Me and My Girl, and Fiddler on the Roof.
Robert and Kate were married in the summer of 2000, and honeymooned in Tobago. (Next time they hope to see more of the scenery - ed.)