Actor, Musical Theater Music Direector, Orchestra & Choral Director, Professional Baritone Soloist
Robert E. Wills
Professional Music Experience
Music Director for Rocky Horror Show, Matilda the Musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein review, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Christmas Carol, Spirit of the Iao (80th anniversary) and Annie (Music Director and I also did the role of Oliver Daddy Warbucks), Saturday with Sondheim (also starring in).
Maui Chamber Orchestra
Founder & Music Director Emeritus
Founded the orchestra and was music director from 2010 – 2019.
Founded the Board and secured the status of a 501C3 charity. Inaugural year was the 2014-2015 season. Preceding that were four years of establishing the Maui Masterworks Festival (summer every year). The size of the orchestra, chorus and audience grew.
Exceptional musicianship and conducting skills, Audience Growth, and Fund Raising.
Developed a series entitled “Conversations with the Conductor” meeting with the audience before every Sunday concert – explaining what to listen for, how the piece came to be written, demonstrations, history, etc.
Established artistic objectives – growing the concert season from three concerts per year to six concerts per year in just three years, all the while building audience demand in a climate that is unfamiliar with classical music. Many of the pieces performed between 2010 – 2019 were Maui premieres.
Developed the “Young Artist Showcase” series and concerto competition. This concert featured a Hawaii music student in performance with the orchestra.
Developed a “Musicals in Concert” series – first performance was WEST SIDE STORY in concert – the entire show in May 2017 (In the show’s 60th anniversary year). According to Music Theater International (the business granting licenses to a majority of Broadway musicals), the only other orchestras given this rare license to do the entirety of West Side Story in concert are San Francisco Symphony in 2014, New York Philharmonic in 2016 and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2017.
Maui Academy of Performing Arts
Music Director
Music director for the MAPA production of Les Misérables – Castle Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Over 6000 people attended this production. Hailed as the best musical production in the history of Maui. 26 member orchestra for that production (large by any Broadway musical standard).
Maui OnStage
Music Director
Music Director for numerous productions at the Iao Theater for Maui OnStage including “Rocky Horror Show”, “Matilda the musical”, “Annie”, “The Sound of Music”, The King and I”, and the 80th anniversary of the Iao Theater.
Maui Chamber Orchestra Chorus and Summer Maui Masterworks Festival Chorus
Founder, Director and Conductor
Founder, Director and Conductor of the Maui Masterworks Festival. This was held every summer from 2010 – 2014. This chorus developed into the Maui Chamber Orchestra Chorus. Mr. Wills was the founder and director of that chorus from its inception through May 2018. Choral works not only included classical repertoire (Handel: Messiah, Haydn: Creation, Bach: Christmas Oratorio, Vivaldi: Gloria, Mozart: Requiem, Faure: Requiem, Mozart: Mass in C Minor “Great Mass”) but also included music for the theater (Bernstein: West Side Story, Gershwin: Crazy For You).
Church of The Maternity of the Blessed Virgin
October 1994 to 2007
Under my direction, the adult choir received and accepted a Papal invitation to sing at St. Peter’s in the Vatican on June 21, 1998. This concert tour of Italy included concerts in Rome, Assisi and Venice. During this concert tour, the choir gave the world premiere of “Earth Turns Inside Out” by Denise Rippentrop. Produced and directed four choir CD’s; a live concert recording of Dvorak, Vierne, F.M. Christiansen & Rutter works; also a live recording of Magnificat by J.S. Bach and Gloria by Vivaldi, a live concert of Requiem by John Rutter, a live recording of Mass in C K258. by W.A. Mozart and a live recording of an all Vaughan Williams concert – English Folk Song Suite, Five Mystical Songs, Dona Nobis Pacem.
Church of The Nativity of Our Lord
November 1978 to October 1994
I have produced, directed and recorded three record albums with the adult choir, the first in 1981, the second in 1985, and the third in 1990. I initiated a choir exchange program with nearby parishes of all Christian faiths & Jewish faiths. The Nativity Choir has sung with the St. Olaf College Choir, under the direction of Robert Shaw, in a performance of Bach’s “Passion according to St. Matthew”.
The Nativity Choir has performed for Pope John Paul II as the featured choir for solemn Sunday liturgy at St. Peter’s in Rome on June 21, 1992.
The Nativity choir also had a 1987 concert tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland with concerts in Dachau, Vienna, Laufen and Lucerne. This tour also included a performance of the Schubert G major Mass at the Lichtentaler Kirche in Vienna where Schubert was the organist and choirmaster.
MN. Mining and Manufacturing
August 1986 to May 1987
During my tenure as director of the 3M’s women’s chorus I conducted 3M’S sixty-piece orchestra and one hundred voice combined chorus in two sold-out Christmas performances at the Ordway Music Theater. I also did the stage and musical direction for their annual Spring show.
Proficiency singing in 6 languages – English, Latin, Spanish, Italian, German, French. Some experience (minimal) in Polish, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian
Soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Rochester Symphony, Dakota Valley Symphony, Maui Choral Arts Association, Maui Chamber Orchestra.
Works as a baritone soloist include –
Brahms – Requiem
Handel – Messiah
Vaughan Williams – Dona Nobis Pacem, Five Mystical Songs
Mahler – Lieder eines fahrende gesellen
DuBois – The seven last words of Christ
Mendelssohn – Elijah (role of Elijah)
Faure’ – Requiem
J.S. Bach – Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, many Cantatas
Copland – Old American Songs (both sets)
Baritone for over 20 musicals including Billy in Carousel, Lancelot in Camelot, Sky in Guys & Dolls, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Nicely Nicely in Guys and Dolls, Warbucks in Annie, George in La Cage Aux Folles, Narrator/Mysterious Man in Into The Woods
Overseas concerts in Dachau, Lucerne, Vienna, Rome, Assisi, Florence, Venice, Jerusalem
Former member of Minnesota Opera Company and Minnesota Chorale (section leader)
Conducted orchestral works include:
- Bach J.S.
Brandenburg Concerto 2
Brandenburg Concerto 3
Brandenburg Concerto 4 - Barber
Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - Beethoven
Symphony #1
Symphony #2
Symphony #4
Symphony #6
Symphony #8 - Bernstein
West Side Story - Brahms
Academic Festival Overture
Serenade #2 - Britten
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra - Charpentier
Noëls pour les instruments, H531 & 534 - Chopin
Piano Concerto no. 1 - Copland
Fanfare for The Common Man
Hoe Down
Saturday Night Waltz
Corral Nocturne
Variations on a Shaker Melody
An Outdoor Overture
Appalachian Spring – original 13 instrument chamber version - Corelli
Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6 No. 8, “Christmas Concerto” - Debussy
Sarabande - Faure
Pelleas et Melisande Suite - Gershwin
Lullaby - Glinka
Spanish Overture #2: Summer Night in Madrid - Gounod
Petit Symphonie - Greig
Peer Gynt Suite 1
Peer Gynt Suite 2
Holberg Suite - Handel
Water Music Suite #1 in F major, HWV 348
Concerto Grosso, Op. 6 No.1 - Haydn
Symphony #94
Trumpet Concerto
Symphony #102
Cello concerto - Mendelssohn
Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave)
Violin Concerto - L. Mozart
Toy symphony - W. A. Mozart
Marriage of Figaro Overture K. 492
Overture to The Magic Flute K. 620
Piano Concerto #20 K. 466
Symphony #41 “Jupiter” K. 551
Symphony #40 K. 550
Symphony #35 “Haffner” K. 385
Overture – La Clemenza di Tito K. 621
Horn Concerto no. 2 in E-flat K. 417
Clarinet Concerto K. 622 - Porter
100th Birthday Tribute to Cole Porter - Prokofiev
Peter and The Wolf
Overture on Hebrew Themes - Ravel
Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) Suite - Rodgers
Victory at Sea - Rodrigo
Concierto de Aranjuez - Rossini
Overture to William Tell - Schubert
Symphony #5 - Stravinsky
Pulcinella Suite - Telemann
Viola Concerto
Concerto in B-flat Major for 2 oboes, 2 flutes, and 2 strings
Concerto for 3 trumpets, 2 oboes, timpani, strings &; b.c. - Thomson
Suite: The River - Tchaikovsky
Nutcracker Suite #1
Piano Concerto #1 - Vaughan Williams
English Folk Song Suite
Fantasia on Greensleeves - Vivaldi
Concerto for two trumpets - Warlock
Capriol Suite
Conducted works for choir and orchestra:
- Bach, J.S
Magnificat
Christmas Oratorio - DuBois
The seven last words of Christ - Faure’
Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11, arranged for MCO inaugural concert by Layton “Skip” James
Requiem
Pavane - Gershwin
Crazy for You - Handel
Messiah - Haydn
Missa Brevis de Sti Johanni de Deo ‘Kleine Orgelmesse’
The Creation - Mendelssohn
Elijah - W. A. Mozart
Missa Brevis in Bb K. 275
Vesperae sollene de confessore K. 339
Mass in C major K. 317 “Coronation”
Mass in C K. 258
Requiem K. 626
Mass in c minor K. 427, “Great Mass” - Parry
Ode on the Nativity - Pergolesi
Magnificat - Rutter
Requiem
Brother Heinrich’s Christmas - Schubert
Mass in G major
Mass in C major
Mass in A flat major - Vaughan Williams
Dona Nobis Pacem
Five Mystical Songs - Vivaldi
Gloria
Media Samples
Education
Master’s Degree
University of St. Thomas
Bachelor of the Arts
College of St. Thomas
May 1986
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