Background
Blocker, Robert Lewis was born on September 4, 1946 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Son of Lewis A. and Frances (Bowen) Blocker.
conductor music educator choir director
Blocker, Robert Lewis was born on September 4, 1946 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Son of Lewis A. and Frances (Bowen) Blocker.
Blocker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Furman University in 1968. He earned graduate degrees — Master of Music in 1970 and Doctor of Musical Arts in 1972 — from the University of North Texas College of Music, where he studied closely with pianist Richard Brannan Cass (1931–2009), an alumnus of Furman and Juilliard and 1953 Fulbright Scholar to the National School of Music of Paris where he had studied with Nadia Boulanger. In 1986, while serving as dean at Baylor, Blocker was a fellow at the Institute for al Management at Harvard in 1986.
Chair division fine arts, Brevard (North Carolina) College, 1974-1976; chair department music, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, 1976-1981; dean School Music, U. North Carolina, Greensboro, 1981-1983; dean School Music, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, 1983-1988; dean College Music, U. North Texas, Denton, 1988-1991; dean School of the Arts and Architecture, University of California at Los Angeles, 1991-1995; dean School Music, Yale University, New Haven, since 1995. Member of advisory board Stoeger prize Lincoln Center, New York City, since 1991.
Board of directors Armand Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 1991-1995, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, since 1995. Captain United States Army, 1973. Member Pi Kappa Lambda (board regents).
Children: Brooke, Ben, Emily, Alan. Married Serena Ann Snyder, April 25, 1993.