about robert

Robert Black tours the world creating unheard of music for the double bass, collaborating with the most adventurous composers, musicians, dancers, artists, actors, and technophiles from all walks of life.  He is a founding and current member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars.  Current projects include First Fridays with Robert Black – a monthly series of streamed solo bass recitals; a 10-channel audio/video double bass installation reflecting on the Anthropocene with sound artists Brian House and Sue Huang, filmed at the Freshkills landfill in NYC; an outdoor environmental work for 24 basses with composer Eve Beglarian; and a new theater piece for one actor and double bass with original music written for Robert by Philip Glass based on the life and writings of Franz Kafka.  Recent commissions include John Luther Adams, Carman Moore, Joan Tower, Phil Niblock, Nick Dunston, Žibuolkė Martinaitytė, Krists Auznieks, Jakhongir Shukurov, and Daniel Sabzghabaei.   Solo recordings include Philip Glass-Bass Partita and Poetry (Orange Mountain Music), Possessed (Cantaloupe Records) Modern American Bass (New World Records), The Bass Music of Christian Wolff and Giacinto Scelsi (Mode Records), and State of the Bass (O.O. Discs).  He also founded and directs the Robert Black Foundation Trust, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support contemporary musical arts activities in all possible manifestations.