The music of Robert Maggio has been called "lyrical, passionate, melodic, and rhythmically charged" (American Record Guide). Hailed as a composer of music that is "smart, vital, and inventive" (Philadelphia Inquirer), Robert Maggio has created a substantial body of works in nearly every genre, each creating a unique connection between the composer's "wondrously eclectic vocabulary" (New York Times) and the demands of a diverse body of commissions.
Recent projects include a 40-minute orchestral suite (Two Visions) composed in collaboration with Ana Lara for the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico and the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, and short choral works for the Reading Choral Society and the Kennett Square Symphony Children's Chorus. Works in progress include a suite for chamber orchestra to celebrate the Riverside Symphonia's 15th Anniversary Season and a dance work for Network for New Music to be choreographed by Matthew Neenan and Phrenic New Ballet.
In the spring of 2004, Albany Records released a CD of Maggio's recent choral works including Aristotle, Jacklight, The Wishing Tree, and Rachel and Her Children. In reviewing this CD, American Record Guide said, “Maggio is quite a craftsman, with the traditional elements... all contribute to a smooth, luxurious, somewhat mysterious, flow" Fanfare Magazine reported, "...Maggio shows himself both deeply respectful of the choral tradition and determined to put his own stamp on it." Published by Theodore Presser Company, Maggio's music is currently recorded on the Albany and CRI labels.
Maggio's orchestral music has been performed by the Boston Pops, the Atlanta Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico, the Oakland East Bay Symphony, the Dallas/Fort Worth Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony and the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra. His chamber and vocal/choral music has been commissioned and performed by the New York Festival of Song, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Colorado Quartet (Arizona Friends of Chamber Music commission), Sanford Sylvan and David Breitman (Barlow commission), Detroit Chamber Winds, Meridian Arts Ensemble, Composers Inc., Network for New Music, Orchestra 2001 and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia.
In addition to composing for ballet, Maggio has created scores for numerous modern dance companies (Stephen Pelton Dance Theater, Randy James Dance Works, Leah Stein and Dancers). In 1994, he was composer-in-residence at the American Dance Festival. He has composed songs and incidental music for professional theater productions, including those at Yale Repertory Theater, Philadelphia Theater Company, Peoples Light and Theater, and Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
Maggio has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Meet the Composer
A graduate of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, Robert Maggio lives in Lambertville, New Jersey with his partner, the artist, Tony LaSalle, and their daughter Annamaria. He is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Music Theory and Composition in the School of Music at West Chester University.
