The CMR Spotlight
Robert Finley
Some people say that Classical MIDI on the Internet began with Robert. Robert was one of the first individuals to realize the potential of the Web and its ability to allow users to appreciate this musician's hard work - in this case, true real-time performances of Classical music. If you're not sure what real-time means - put simply, it means press REC, and play. Play with all of the naturally occurring nuances and variations in velocity, rhythm, rubato (tempo), and other expressive differences too many to name here, and edit later. Many professionals create MIDI music this way - Valerie Tyron, Gary D. Lloyd, and Dr. Ron Lubetsky to name a few, but Robert was one of the first to do so for the Web, a true pioneer.
Robert Finley was born in Hull, England, in 1950. He started to play the piano at the age of seven. In 1960 he won a scholarship to study piano and composition at Trinity College of Music in London.
In 1968 he went to the University of Sussex to study electronic engineering, but continued his musical studies with various concert pianists including Norma Fisher and Albert Ferber. He also studied in masterclasses with Louis Kentner, David Wilde, Vlado Perlemuter (at Dartington), Bernard Roberts, and with Jorge Bolet (during the Edinburgh Festival and at the Library of Congress in Washington DC).
In 1976 he was awarded the Associate of the Royal College of Music Diploma in pianoforte performing with honours. He has given many recitals in the UK, Israel, Argentina and the USA, and has played on local radio and television. In the USA he played at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, the First and Second Church of Boston (Liszt 1986 Centennial Recital) and at Arial State University in Atlanta (during the Liszt Festival). He has also performed the Rachmaninoff 1st and 3rd, Schumann, Mozart K414, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn concertos with various symphony orchestras.
He has taught a number of students in his spare time. He also enjoys playing chamber music and has played in various workshops with his brother who is a violinist in Connecticut and at the Lincoln Center in New York City. He is a member of the American Liszt Society.
In 1980 he emigrated to the United States and lives near Boston, Massachusetts. He works for a large engineering corporation designing radio communication systems.
His equipment for MIDI sequencing includes a Yamaha Clavinova, a Roland JV1080, and a 386 PC running Midisoft's "Studio for Windows" and "Cakewalk 3.0".
Robert's many fine realtime sequences include works by Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms,
Faure, Grieg, Elgar, Albeniz, Litolff, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Ravel.
His present and future MIDI projects include the complete Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto and the
Brahms Second Piano Concerto.
Historical News!Robert was in my very own backyard in June of '99, and again in '00. He showed his exceptional talent by being selected to participate in the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs on June of those years presented by The Van Cliburn Foundation. This event takes place on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and is presented in collaboration with the highly successful Concours des Grands Amateurs de Piano, founded in 1989 by Gérard Békerman and held annually in Paris, France. |