2026 Adjudicators

Since the late 1970s, composer/pianist Robert Bruce has created a diverse catalog of original music that encompasses Film/TV music, repertoire for piano students, pop and R&B songs, classical artsongs, and a unique "calming and reflective" solo piano collection which he presents in various live settings.

A self-taught and intuitive composer, he advocates that composing meaningful, high-quality music can be a natural and joyful lifelong endeavour for anyone interested in this mode of artistic expression. He sees music as a living language and in his educational workshops encourages other composers to always pursue the musical directions they are most passionate about, as those will be the most artistically authentic and personally satisfying.

A few fairly recent highlights include having his music in several Hollywood A-list films and prominent TV shows and many commercials, including a popular Superbowl commercial; his ensemble piece "Circles" has been used in well over 1,000 TV shows and commercials to date.

Many of his early piano pieces have been included in the syllabi for all the major music conservatories in Canada that use(d) them for formal piano exams. Several collections of his early piano works were included in the essential reference book, "Pianists' Guide to Piano Literature" by Dr Maurice Hinson.