Robert W. Parker (composer)

Robert W. Parker (August 13, 1960 – April 13, 2020) was an American composer, organist, and percussionist based in Southern California. He is best known for his sacred music and compositions for concert band. He also wrote incidental music for the theater. He began his career as a professional musician in his teens, playing organ for a small church meeting that met in a YMCA. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Yale College (1982), a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music (1985), and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University (1996). Parker’s “Sicut Incipiat” (“thus, let it begin”), a commencement march for concert band, was the first work to be commissioned by the Robert J. Flanagan Yale Bands Commissioning Endowment, established in 2007. The composition was added to Yale’s repertoire of commencement music beginning with the university’s 307th commencement ceremony in May 2008. Parker’s music has become part of another school’s tradition: He composed the tune for “Ancora Imparo,” the alma mater of Illinois Central College. Parker has written sacred music for a number of Southern California churches, notably St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in