Standish Roberts Memorial Scholarship
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About the Standish Roberts Memorial Scholarship
It has been said that Stan Roberts was a Music Camp legend. He joined the trumpet section of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra (now the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) in 1949. When National Music Camp resumed in 1952 following a poliomyelitis outbreak that had caused a two-year hiatus, conductor Sir Bernard Heinze invited Stan to music camp at Geelong Grammar School to assist an under-powered trumpet section perform Dvořák’s Symphony for the New World.
Stan often said,
I decided to go to camp for only one week but once I got there you couldn’t keep me away. That’s been a bit of a joke. I went for a week and stayed twenty-seven years.
Throughout his professional life, Stan was committed to teaching and the development of trumpet and brass players to the highest standard and his decades as trumpet tutor attest to that commitment.
Perhaps understandably, Stan was assigned the responsibility of rousing campers with a reveille each morning. Starting with small bands of brass players, budding and future composers soon were inspired to create original music for unusual and difficult to transport instruments including timpani and double basses.
Stan’s attendance at music camp soon involved his family—his wife Rosemarie and children, Judith, Ian and David, who attended many music camps in 1960s and 1970s.
With Thomas Wightman and Lloyd Davies, Stan Roberts was one of the first musicians to be made a Life Member of the National Music Camp Association. His citation included:
Stan seemed to be forever rehearsing brass ensembles. No major concert at camp would be complete without an opening fanfare from the brass. The standard of brass playing was always enormously high. Stan, more than anyone in Australia over a long period of time has been responsible for that at Music Camp.
Stan assisted at state music camps each year and also camps in Malaysia.
AYO trumpet player and camper John How remembers,
Stan encouraged me to attend National Music Camp, which was the highlight of every year for me. We always had a number of budding composers at camp (Carl Vine sat next to me with his trumpet.) There was no shortage of original compositions for the morning reveille round the dormitories. One morning a rousing fanfare, and the next a soothing lullaby (campers were late for breakfast that day!) As a trumpeter I was often on the morning dorm tour with Stan leading and chaperoning us. Of all the people in my life Stan has had the biggest influence and effect on my future. His recognition of not just talent, but love of music, and his unyielding drive and professionalism has stayed with me always.
Camper, AYO and retired Queensland Symphony Orchestra trumpet player John Gould says,
I started my trumpet studies with Stan when I was 11 through to the end of my uni years. He was a great mentor. Not only was he a great teacher he was also a great person and friend. I owe so much to him in making me the trumpet player I was.
AYO alumnus and horn tutor, Peter Luff remembers his time with Stan:
I was extremely fortunate to study Horn at the Elder Conservatorium during the time when Stan Roberts was teaching Trumpet and conducting the brass ensemble. Arriving straight from school as a very young inexperienced brass student, I had much to learn … not only about playing at a higher level, but about the broader business and discipline of being a professional musician. Stan played a pivotal role in that formative period of my life.
A distinguished trumpet player in his own right, Stan was also an exceptional teacher and mentor to the entire brass cohort. The strength of his influence is evident in the remarkable number of Elder Conservatorium brass alumni from that era who have gone on to enjoy highly successful careers as performers and educators. His impact extended far beyond individual lessons; he shaped a culture of excellence, accountability, and pride within the brass department.
As an ensemble director, Stan was intensely motivated and uncompromising. He knew exactly how he wanted things done and demanded the highest standards from us all. I remember playing under his baton many times as an undergraduate and learning invaluable lessons about how to listen, how to blend within a section, how to contribute meaningfully to the sound of an ensemble, and how to conduct oneself professionally. Those rehearsals were as much about character and discipline as they were about the music.
Above all, Stan instilled in me a deep sense of self-belief. He believed in his students wholeheartedly, and that faith fostered a confidence that has stayed with me throughout my career. I truly believe that Standish Roberts was one of the most influential brass teachers of his generation at the Elder Conservatorium. I will always be profoundly grateful for his mentorship and for the lifelong lessons he imparted.
Stan moved with his family to Adelaide in 1966 to become principal trumpet in the South Australian Symphony Orchestra (now the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra). He established and conducted the University of Adelaide Brass Ensemble. Stan died in 1993 and bequeathed his brass ensemble music to the National Music Camp Association Library.
The AYO is extremely grateful to Standish Roberts for his contribution to the longevity and continued growth of AYO’s next generation of musicians.
Leaving a gift in your will is a powerful way to express your belief in the power of music and the potential of young people. It allows you to make a significant impact, ensuring your love for music lives on.
Please consider donating to AYO. With your help, we can inspire the next generation of brilliant young musicians and enable opportunities for participants for years to come.
Visit: www.ayo.com.au/donate for more information.