Ron Korb

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Ron Korb
Ron Korb press conference in Taipei 2004.JPG
Ron Korb Asia Tour press conference in Taipei
Background information
Birth nameRonald Walter Korb
Also known as龍笛,龙笛,Longdi, Dragon Flute,雷恩寇伯,Flute Shaman
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresClassical Crossover, melodic world music, jazz, Latin, Asian music, Celtic music, New-age
OccupationsFlautist, Composer
InstrumentsFlute
Years active1988–present
Labels EMI (Hong Kong)
Website ronkorb.com

Ron Korb is a Grammy-nominated Canadian flutist (flautist) and composer.

Contents

Musical style

Korb is best known for writing culturally diverse music and his mastery of a wide array of world music wind instruments. His work spans a range of genres including Classical, Jazz, Latin, Asian, Celtic music, and Middle Eastern. Many of his songs are program music based on stories themes that form concept albums. The concepts often come from his exploration of his multi-cultural ancestry and extensive travel experience. [1]

Education

Ron Korb started on the recorder in grade school and later joined an Irish fife and drum band in his teens. While attending the Royal Conservatory of Music, he won several local music competitions. He attended York University for a year to broaden his experience of playing jazz but later earned a scholarship to study classical flute at University of Toronto where he graduated with a degree in Music Performance. His primary teacher was Douglas Stewart but he also participated in master classes with Paula Robison, Robert Aitken in Shawnigan, Raymond Guiot in Domaine Forget and Michel Debost in Assisi, Italy. After graduating with honors from University, Korb discovered Chinese flutes (Chinese: 笛子, English:Dizi, [pinyin]: dÍ zÎ). The sound of the Asian bamboo flute intrigued him so much that he moved to Japan in the early '90s to study Japanese Gagaku court music, the traditional shinobue and ryūteki bamboo flutes with Akao Michiko. Since then he has travelled around the world collecting and studying indigenous flutes. He has a collection of more than 250 flutes.

Career

Ron Korb has released more than 30 solo albums on various record labels. [2]

Ron has had many collaborations with longtime friend Donald Quan. In 1990 they released Tear of the Sun which charted No. 1 in the Canadian New Age Music Top 40 and in 2001 they did the musical direction for Peter Gabriel's Tribute and Homage for Harbourfront Centre's "World Leaders". The musical talent they shared the stage with included Peter Gabriel, Jane Siberry, Tia Carrere, Arn Chorn-Pond, Jeff Martin, Andy Stochansky and Lorraine Segato. That same year they penned the song for the Toronto Olympic Bid which was performed by the Toronto Symphony, Samba Squad and Nathaniel Dett Chorale in Roy Thomson Hall.

In 2004 Ron Korb Live was released which was filmed in Victoriaville Quebec, directed by Pierre and François Lamoureux and became the first independent artist in Canada to release a full-length DVD. [3]

Composing

Other than writing the instrumental pieces for his albums he has also written songs for major Asian singers. His song for Alan Tam (Chinese :譚詠麟) achieved Double Platinum sales. Another song recorded by the "Godfather of Cantopop" Roman Tam (Chinese :羅文) won Best Original Composition at the RTHK awards (Radio Television Hong Kong), Hong Kong's equivalent of the Grammys. In 2008 Ron was asked to put together a book of flute and piano pieces for classical flute exams for the Australian Music Examinations Board Flute for Leisure syllabus. Ron has also composed music for film dance and theatre. In 2012, Ron Korb's classical crossover album Europa (officially released in 2013, won the Global Music Awards, California, in 4 categories including: Award of Excellence-Album, Composition (St. Johann), Album Art/Graphics (Designer: Jade Yeh); Award of Merit: Acoustic Instrumental Solo Performance (St. Johann). [4] His composition, Beckett's Whisper, originally written for Irish flute, pennywhistle, violin, cello, Celtic harp, accordion, double bass and piano, was rearranged by Korb himself for the Canadian Flute Association for flute choir: Piccolo, 4 C Flutes (flute 4 requires low B foot), Alto flute, Bass flute, Contrabass flute. [5] Beckett's Whisper for flute choir was included in the 1st Canadian Flute Convention Closing Program as well as the opening concert of the 2014 National Flute Association (NFA) Convention in Chicago (played by Windy City Flute Orchestra, conducted by Kelly Via) [6]

Discography

Single

Awards and recognitions

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References

  1. "Ron Korb, All About Jazz". Archived from the original on 25 November 2006.
  2. "Ron Korb discography".
  3. "Ron Korb Live DVD on IMDb".
  4. "Global Music Awards".
  5. "Flute World-Beckett's Whisper by Ron Korb".
  6. "Windy City Flute Orchestra Concert".
  7. "An Interview With Flutist Ron Korb and CD Review by Dr. Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl".
  8. "Ron Korb 'Asia Beauty' Interview by Rob Caldwell, Music to Eat".
  9. "CD Review Ron Korb-'Europa, The Whole Note".
  10. "CD Review Ron Korb-'Celtic Heartland',Taiwan Fun".
  11. "Ron Korb". Spotify .
  12. "17th Independent Music Awards".
  13. "58th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees".
  14. "International Acoustic Awards".
  15. "Global Music Awards: Winners".
  16. "2015 Zone Music Award Winners".
  17. "OWMR Awards 2015".
  18. "GMA".
  19. "GMA".
  20. "IAMA Artist Page".
  21. "TIMA 2015 Nominees".
  22. "IAMA".