Reuben Bance Composer
Composers leading the way to Antigua
Meet Reuben Bance, Composer Find out more about our 2024 Antigua Trip
Reuben Bance
Reuben Bance, a multi-talented composer, conductor, and music researcher who has recently graduated from King’s College, University of Cambridge, will be one of our key composers in our team visiting Antigua & Barbuda this Summer. Reuben’s diverse musical journey and passion for both Western and non-Western music make him a remarkable addition to the Commonwealth Resounds team.
Reuben began his formal music education under the guidance of renowned composer Joseph Phibbs. His compositions have been performed in prestigious venues, including London’s Cadogan Hall, showcasing his talent and dedication to the art of composition.
Leadership within music
In addition to composing, Reuben is an active conductor in Cambridge, leading various orchestras, most notably the King’s College Symphony Orchestra. He is also the key music leader for the Commonwealth Resound’s Music Relay.
Reuben’s musical interests extend beyond the Western classical tradition. He is an accomplished player in non-Western ensembles, including Samulnori and Javanese Gamelan. His enthusiasm for the Changgo, a traditional Korean drum, led him to a memorable performance with the Cambridge University Samulnori Society for Dr Chung Sye-kyun, former Prime Minister of South Korea. This performance highlights Reuben’s dedication to exploring and promoting diverse musical traditions.
Reuben recently graduated with a BA in Music from the University of Cambridge, achieving a Class I with distinction graduating first in his class. He is particularly proud of his dissertation, “Harmonic Style Classification of Jazz Pianists in a Source-separated Piano Trio Dataset,” which involved training classification models to predict the identity of jazz pianists using extracted harmonic information from recorded solos. Reuben expressed his gratitude to Dr Peter Harrison and Dr Huw Cheston for their support during his research. He is looking forward to working with the Centre of Music and Science in Cambridge later this summer to prepare his dissertation for publication.
“Engaging with various musical traditions has broadened my perspective and enriched my understanding of music’s universal language. I look forward to sharing these experiences and learning from the young musicians at Commonwealth Resounds.”
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