Robert E. Foster

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Robert E. Foster

Biography

Robert Estill Foster (b. 21 January 1939, Raymondville, Texas) is an American conductor, educator, arranger and composer.

Mr. Foster received a bachelor's degree at the University of Texas in 1962 and a master's degree at the University of Houston in 1964. He began his teaching career in the public schools of Texas, and then spent seven years at the University of Florida (1964-1971), where he was assistant director of bands and professor of trumpet. He moved to the University of Kansas, where he was chairman of the Music and Dance Department and Director of Bands from 1971-2002. At the beginning of the fall 2002 semester, he returned to the classroom, ending a 31-year career as head of the university’s band program.

Mr. Foster's compositions and arrangements number over 100, and he is also the author of several textbooks and numerous articles for music journals. Currently, he serves as an educational consultant with Wingert-Jones Music in Kansas City, Missouri. As a trumpet performer, he has been associated with several professional bands, orchestras, and ensembles. He is also active as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, composer, and arranger, and also is the educational consultant for Wingert-Jones Music.

Foster has been the recipient of various honors and was elected to the American Bandmasters Association in 1975 and to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 1975. Robert Foster served as president of both the National Band Association and the American Bandmasters Association in 1994. In 1988, he was selected as one of the ten most outstanding music educators in America by the School Musician magazine.

Among the other music organizations with which he is affiliated are the College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, the Kansas Bandmasters Association, the John Philip Sousa Foundation, Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha, and Kappa Kappa Psi. He has served as an officer in several of these organizations. Currently, Foster is Vice-President of the John Philip Sousa Foundation. He has served as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Bandmasters Association, and the National Band Association, and as President of the Southwest Division of the College Band Directors National Association and of the Big 12 Conference Band Directors Association. He has been on the board of directors for CBDNA, ABA, NBA, the John Philip Sousa Foundation, and the Kansas Bandmasters Association. He also was selected as Bandmaster of the Year by KBA. School Musician magazine selected as one of the ten music educators to be honored, and he was awarded the Higher Education Service Award by the students of the University of Kansas in 1975. Foster is a member of the advisory board of the Instrumentalist magazine, and has served a six-year tenure as band advisor for the MENC Advisor Column in their magazine, Teaching Music.


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