Career Retrospective Celebrates 30 Years of Teaching Music

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Robert Mueller

The Department of Music invites campus and the greater Northwest Arkansas community to help celebrate professor Robert Mueller, composer, conductor, and mentor. This year marks Mueller's 30th year at the University of Arkansas.

Mueller has won prizes from many competitions, has been commissioned for numerous works, has published many works, and his works have been performed across the world. In addition, in the last 30 years, he has taught hundreds of young composers, music theorists, and orchestra students. His works can be heard on CD and on his YouTube channel. 

In the 2018-19 academic year, a retrospective is planned that will feature his works across numerous concerts over the next several months including concerts at the University of Arkansas, throughout Northwest Arkansas, and beyond.   

Events featuring Mueller's work:

July 13, 11:30 a.m.: International Trombone Festival, University of Iowa, Iowa City
Arkansas RAZORBONES: Sinister and Somber Dances by Robert Mueller, a world premiere

Aug. 23, 6:30 p.m.: Butterfield Trail Village, Fayetteville
Lyrique Quintette: Veni Variationes by Robert Mueller

Sept. 4, 7:30 p.m.: Instituto Internacional, Madrid
Lyrique Quinette: Veni Variationes by Robert Mueller
Sponsored by the Embassy of the United States in Spain (Fulbright Exchange Program Commemoration) 

Sept. 16, 8 p.m.: 21C Hotel, Bentonville
Lyrique Quintette CD Release Party for "Arrivals and Departures: Music of the Americas"
With remarks by Miguel del Águila and Robert Mueller and performances of Del Águila's and Mueller's works from the CD. 

Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m.: Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fayetteville
Lyrique Quintette: "Arrivals and Departures: Music of the Americas"
Campus CD Release Celebration 

Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.: Faulkner Performing Arts Center, Fayetteville
University Symphony Orchestra, featuring Dr. Ronda Mains: Breather of Angels Concerto for Flute and Orchestra by Robert Mueller, a World Premiere

Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.: Faculty Showcase Concert, Faulkner Performing Arts Center, Fayetteville 
Fulbright Trio: Echo Fantasy, for violin, violoncello, and piano by Robert Mueller 

Feb. 23, time TBD: Arkansas Trombone Workshop, Faulker Performing Arts Center 
Arkansas RAZORBONES: Sinister and Somber Dances by Robert Mueller

March 14, 7:30 p.m.: Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall
Theresa Delaplain, Robert Mueller, and Friends Recital 

"OBOE GEMS"
Small works featuring the oboe, including  
Rachel Weeping for Her Children by Robert Mueller
And Voces de los Niños by Robert Mueller 

Every Sunday, 11 a.m.: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 
A new choral anthem by Robert Mueller every week, sung by the Chancel Choir 
A new handbell choir work every month, played by the GSLC Handbell Choir 

Abotu Robert Mueller: Robert Mueller conducts the University Symphony Orchestra and teaches music composition and music theory. He is Chair of the Composition/Theory Area.

Mueller grew up in Michigan and attended Northern Michigan University, where he received the Outstanding Pianist Award upon graduation. He has also received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from NMU, and was invited back to be composer-in-residence in the spring of 2004. He earned the Master of Music in Composition degree from Bowling Green State University, where he studied composition with Marilyn Shrude. At Bowling Green, he also did extensive studies in orchestral conducting with Grzegorz Nowak, who is now the Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London. Mueller received a D.M.A. in Composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where his teachers were Joel Hoffman, Allan Sapp, Jonathan Kramer, Frederic Rzewski, and Earle Brown.

Mueller has twice been composer-in-residence for the Fort Smith Symphony, and his music has been performed nationwide by several orchestra including the Cincinnati, Omaha, Fort Smith, Lansing, Arkansas, and North Arkansas Symphonies. He has received numerous commissions, has been widely published, and has produced a chamber music CD entitled "Time Labyrinths." A number of music festivals have programmed his music, including the Bowling Green New Music and Art Festival, the Music Festival of Arkansas, the Southwest Contemporary Music Festival, and conferences of the Society of Composers, International Double Reed Society, and College Music Society. He was selected to be composer-in-residence for Missouri State University's Annual Composition Festival in March 2009. Mueller has been the recipient of 20 consecutive awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. He has also been awarded an American Music Center grant, an individual artist grant from the Arkansas Arts Council, prizes from the Omaha, Lansing, Jackson and Cincinnati Symphonies, and numerous other awards.

Mueller performs as pianist with the Fort Smith Symphony, and is music director of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville.

During the summer, Mueller teaches at the Sequoyah Music Festival and is on the faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts Summer Arts Camp.