J. Robert Kelly (9/26/1916-7/4/2007) was an American composer, composition teacher, and violinist born in Clarksburg West Virginia. He began studying violin at age six and later majored in violin at the Julliard School of Music. He earned his bachelor’s of music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and his master’s of music degree in composition from the Eastman School of Music. He then went on to teach at Salem College and University of Illinois. Over the course of his career, Kelly received commissions from the University of Illinois for Symphony No. 2 and for Emancipation Symphony as well as the National Endowment for the Arts for Concerto for Violin and Orchestra and for Concerto for Viola and Orchestra. He was also honored as Guest Composer of the New York City Composers Forum and appointed Associate Member of the University of Illinois Center for Advanced Study. He self-published The Evolution of an American Composer in 1998.
Robert Kelly
Studios
Phi Beta
Robert Kelly worked in the Phi Beta studio.
Funded by the Phi Beta Fraternity, a national professional fraternity of music and speech founded in 1912, Phi Beta Studio was built between 1929–1931 of granite quarried on the MacDowell grounds. The small studio is a simple in design, but displays a pleasing combination of materials with its granite walls and colorful slate roofing. Inside is…