Since moving to Norway in 1981, Rob Waring has been active as a performer, composer, and teacher. He has been a central figure on the contemporary music scene in Oslo both as a classical percussionist and jazz vibraphonist. He has performed and recorded with Kjell Samkopf, Wiese/ Wøllo/ Waring Trio, Espen Rud, Tone Hulbækmo, Octoband, SØYR, Rob Waring Trio, Lars Klevstrand, Metropolitan, Funny Valentine, Elin Rosseland, Jon Larsen, Celio de Carvalho and Misha Alperin. (Go to Discography)
Rob Waring began composing while he was in high school and this interest grew during the years he studied at Juilliard, where he took composition as an elective course with Stanley Wolfe. Rob participated in seminars with John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Magnus Lindberg, Tristan Murail, Gerard Grisey, Rainer Boesch, Lasse Thoresen, Rolf Wallin, and others. In 1992 he received a grant from the Norwegian government to study digital synthesis and computer-assisted composition in York, England with Trevor Wishart, Richard Orton, and Tony Myatt of the Composers' Desktop Project.
He has composed for soloists, chamber and
jazz ensembles, choir, percussion ensemble, various combinations of acoustic
and electronic instruments, as well as purely electroacoustic works. He has
written music for modern dance, film, and children's radio. Some of his music is written
expressly for improvising musicians and he often experiments with the use of improvisation
within large formal structures. Balinese music has been an important source of inspiration
for Rob Waring in recent years. After his first visit to Bali, Rob composed a piece for the
Norwegian percussion trio SISU, entitled "Sikoté Sukán". This was recorded on a CD
(released October, 2003) called "Scratch!". (Go to Discography)
In 2002 he spent four months studying in Bali, and he
continues to develop ideas for his own music inspired by Balinese principles.
Rob Waring was invited
to exhibit his sound installation SONOMATRIX
at the Henie-Onstad Art Center in Bærum, Norway in March - April,
1996 as part of an international exhibit of electronic art ("Electra 96"),
and at the International Computer Music Conference in Thessaloniki,
Greece in September, 1997. Sonomatrix is an instrument which emphasizes
the use of the spatial dimension in music. Computer-controlled diffusion
of sound through 64 loudspeakers enables the creation of musical structures
involving ever-changing patterns of motion. Rob later improved and
expanded the capabilities of the system to enable MIDI-control in live
performance. This was utilized in a piece for Sonomatrix, saxophone,
and MIDI-vibraphone which was premiered in October, 2002 during the Ultima
International Festival for Contemporary Music in Oslo.
The Steninge
Palace Cultural Centre in Sweden opened on June 12, 1999 with the "Steninge
World Exhibition of Art Glass 1999". Rob was commissioned to compose electroacoustic
music especially for this exhibition. The music played continuously throughout
the exhibition period (June 12 - October 17, 1999).
The Rob Waring Trio with
Carl Morten Iversen and Frank Jakobsen has released 2 CDs: "Secret Red Thread" (1991) and "Synchronize Your
Watches" (2001), with compositions by Jon Balke, Håkon Hartberg, Jimmy Rowles, Kjell Samkopf and Rob
Waring. Vocalist Solveig Slettahjell is a guest on the last CD.
Rob is Associate Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music where he teaches percussion. He has been a guest teacher at academies in Brussels, Berlin, Freiburg, Malmo, and Prague.