Robert Spittal b. 1963. Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Robert is an award-winning composer, conductor, flutist and saxophonist whose music has been described as "inventive" , "clever" and "full of musicality" by critics and musicians alike.His compositions have been commissioned and performed by some of the finest professional and academic musicians in North America, Europe, South America and Asia, including The Bay Brass, Borealis Wind Quintet, Atlanta Chamber Winds, Monmouth Winds, New England Conservatory, National Chamber Winds and North Texas Wind Symphony. His works have been heard in concert halls in New York, Bangkok, Vienna, Cologne, Toronto, and Milan as well as universities and high schools around the world. Major recent performances include Boston, Seattle, Vancouver, BC and the 2025 CBDNA National Conference where the "Concerto for Wind Ensemble" was performed by the U. of North Texas Wind Symphony and Maestro Eugene M. Corporon. Other works have been heard at Interlochen, the "Music for All" Honor Band of America, the WASBE international conference, the American Bandmasters Association conference, the National Flute Association conference, the Midwest Clinic, ASBDA, numerous All-State bands, and the CBDNA Western/Northwestern Conference. Several of his works are included in GIA's "Teaching Music" series.
Robert's work combines sophisticated art music forms and techniques with an appealing musical vernacular that reaches across boundaries of genre and style. This concern for aesthetic sophistication and artistic integrity in combination with a satisfying and enjoyable appeal to the listener's ear, has been developing since his adolescent years, when he was both a serious flute student in the Cleveland Institute of Music's Prep program and a free-lance saxophonist in horn sections of jazz, r&b and other dance bands. Today, Robert still pursues composing and performing across a variety of styles and genres.
Conducting
Robert Spittal is Professor of Music at Gonzaga University (USA), where he led the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds from 1992-2018, before stepping aside to pursue more composition opportunities. Robert studied conducting with Craig Kirchhoff, Michael Haithcock and Eugene Corporon, and maintains an active schedule as a conductor, frequently serving as guest conductor of his own works. Recent appearances include New England Conservatory, where bhe conducted the premiere of his "Concerto for Wind Ensemble" and Canada's Cantando Festival where he conducted the premiere of "Partita for Oboe" with soloist Jung Choi.
Spittal received a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Eugene Corporon. Prior to CCM, he studied with Michael Haithcock (Baylor University) and Craig Kirchhoff (Ohio State University, 1985). He has also studied conducting with Frank Battisti and H. Robert Reynolds.
