BOB BAKER

Bob Baker is an experienced musician, performer, educator, arts administrator and entrepreneur with 40 years of experience in Canada and the US. He brings a unique approach to building capacity and connections within the music and arts community. Bob is extremely passionate about the ability of the arts to bring us together.

What I’m Doing

From what I see and what I have learned from my over 40 year experience as a performer, educator, entrepreneur and administrator I believe we are at the stage where there are huge new and exciting creative opportunities to connect people with the power of music and art.

Most arts organizations have mission, mandate and value statements with a common interest in becoming sustainable by creating connections, growing audiences, and attracting investment in our creative and cultural resources.

We can use live stream broadcasts and podcasts to move from our interest in entertainment experiences to inspiring an appreciation for and desire to explore the creative experience.

These broadcasts can develop a more direct, powerful, and much wider relationship between musicians, their audiences and appreciators, and the communities they are connecting and creating with. Artists can use these broadcasts to create connections with their stories, their ideas and their creative interests.

Live stream experiences also develop communities of common interest around the power of music and art. These new communities of interest can then be leveraged with an entrepreneurial and creative energy.

I can see that live streams and podcasts are the future of broadcasting. I am excited about the idea that we can broadcast live experiences to a global audience in their homes.

BBCC produces high definition on-line broadcasts of live performances. Our professional production crew of 6-7 cameras, audio technician, switcher and creative director brings the viewer more intimately into the experience. Viewers also get a behind-the-scenes experience with pre/intermission/after concert live and recorded videos.  

It is now possible for individuals and organizations of all sizes to produce and distribute high quality live stream broadcasts around the world with a small investment. This process once required the immense resources of billion dollar media and music corporations.

I am doing this to increase our appreciation for the contribution of music in creating connections and community, to develop interest in exploring the creative experience, and to inspire conversation around ideas and opportunities to accelerate our creative and cultural evolution as a community. 

My Story

I grew up in a small town in Alberta with little opportunity to experience music. As a child my mother took me to church every Sunday where I had my only exposure to live music. Every Sunday I had to fight back tears as I heard the church choir but never understood why.

I had the opportunity to take music in junior high school and immediately music became my best subject. For the first time in my life I experienced confidence. In high school I attended a summer music camp that changed my life. I was immersed in music for 12 hours a day and connected with a community of other kids like me that were also passionate about music. I did not want the experience to end and imagined that I could continue doing this for the rest of my life.

In 1978, I started my music studies in trombone performance at University of Calgary, then moved to the University of British Columbia and Master’s and Doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin. I was able to realize my career dream as a professional trombonist for 30 years.

In 1989 I was appointed as the Assistant to the Director of Summer Music Programs at the Banff Centre working with Tom Rolston. This was another life changing experience. I was inspired by Tom’s boundless energy to serve artists. His constant message to musicians was the need to build the role that music had in each of their communities. My work at the Banff Centre infected me.

I also shared my love of music through teaching and remembered how music made such a difference in my life as I grew up. My students at Mount Royal University won many national and international awards. As the Director of Winds, Brass and Percussion I was also involved in the creation of a live streaming distance learning project with organizations like the Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony and the Eastman School of Music. 

As a Yamaha Canada Performing Artist/Clinician, I presented clinics to schools all across Western Canada. I also founded “The Clinic Line” – a unique and innovative entrepreneurial enterprise that connected hundreds of professional musicians with thousands of students in their schools.

In 2003, I had the unfortunate experience of spending a week in a palliative care ward and had an incredible clarifying experience. I realized that music had brought me on an amazing creative journey and enriched my life. I thought that I still had potential to share my experiences on a deeper scale – to help make the world a better place.

In 2004 I led a group that purchased Wesley United Church in Calgary to form a music hub,  including an 800-seat community performance hall, music school and studio/offices for the community. The City of Calgary did not approve the zoning of this project due to a lack of parking but we were able to hand the church and the vision over to Calgary Opera to become their headquarters.

In 2009 I was appointed BC Regional Director of the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver. I brought the idea of creating a community music hub to the CMC which was renamed the BC Creative Hub. This successful model has since been adopted by the CMC across Canada. In 2012 the idea of the Digital Hub was developed to expand our community with the live streaming of concerts and the Composer in the Classroom Distance Learning project. This project won the TELUS Technology Innovation award in 2012. “The current impact of CMC BC is commended as influential, necessary and important.” BC Arts Council 2014 Advisory

In 2014 I was thrilled to be part of the winning bid committee that brought the 2017 ISCM World Music Days to Vancouver. This was only the third time in the 95-year history that the World Music Days will be held in North America. Our efforts to build a dynamic creative music community in Vancouver paid off!

In 2016, I left the CMC to create Bob Baker Creative Connections.