Robert Heath

It started with a walkman. My aunt gave me a cassette of Mozart — the Abduction from the Seraglio and the Jupiter Symphony — and I was hooked. I listened to it over and over, long before I had any idea what a symphony was or why it made me feel the way it did.

I was also an avid video gamer growing up in rural West Virginia. The music for the original Nintendo games was catchy, but it wasn't until I played Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Chrono Cross that I realized music could be so much more than a colorful backdrop. The opening of Final Fantasy VIII — the musical drama mirroring the drama between characters — pulled me into that world and forever expanded what I thought music could do. I listened to those soundtracks and my parents' classical CDs on repeat for years.

Since then, I've done more than I ever could have dreamed as a boy in West Virginia. I've performed for tens of thousands of people across Southeast Asia and Australia, toured throughout Appalachia, and founded or co-founded several ensembles along the way — all in pursuit of that same feeling I had as a kid with a walkman: music that stops you in your tracks.

Although I left the Navy in 2015, I somehow still live a Navy lifestyle — splitting time between South Texas, West Virginia, and Salt Lake City. Wherever I am, I'm working to put on concerts that above all make people feel something — joy, sadness, wonder, anything in between.

I came to the Rio Grande Valley because my spouse took a job there. I didn't plan to fall in love with it — but I did. The people, the culture, the warmth of the community got under my skin. And I kept seeing the same thing everywhere I looked: an extraordinary place with so much to offer, and so few people bringing the kind of concerts I knew it deserved. I don't live there full-time anymore, but that hasn't changed anything. If anything, the distance made the commitment clearer. This is where I'm building something, and I'm not done yet.

Every day, in good times and bad, I strive to do just that — here in the Rio Grande Valley and wherever the music takes me next.

I've performed on the other side of the world. The concerts I'm most proud of are the ones happening here across the RGV, for audiences who may be hearing a live orchestra or band for the very first time. That's the whole point.

I'm always working on something new. If you have ideas for collaborations or just want to stay in touch, I'd love to hear from you.

~Robert