Portrait of Robert Carl

Birthday profile

Robert Carl

Robert Carl, American pianist and composer

Born
July 12, 1954
Age in 2026
72
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1954

About Robert Carl

Robert Carl (born July 12, 1954, in Bethesda, Maryland) is an American composer who currently resides in Hartford, Connecticut. He was chair of the composition program at the Hartt School, University of Hartford. He has held artist residency's at Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France (1984 and 1993), Bogliasco Foundation near Genoa, Italy, (2000, 2007 and 2014), at the Rockefeller International Study Center in Bellagio, Italy, (1987), and at the Youkobo ArtSpace and Tokyo Wonder Site in 2007. US residencies include stays at Yaddo, the Djerassi, Ragdale and Ucross Foundations, and at the MacDowell and Millay. He was a recipient of the Copland Award in 1999. == Music == Carl studied with Jonathan Kramer, George Rochberg, Ralph Shapey, Iannis Xenakis, Betsy Jolas, George Crumb, Richard Wernick, and Robert Morris. From each of the first four respectively, the composer has commented that he feels he learned about time, history, counterpoint/phrasing, and form. His music finds its roots in the spirit of eclectic juxtapositions, transcendentalism, and experiment embodied in the output of Charles Ives and other American "ultramodernists", including Carl Ruggles. Carl's music until 1997 tends to explore different styles, and to create unusual syntheses thereof. A history major as an undergraduate at Yale University, he has felt that the musical past is a fertile source to be manipulated for new expressive purposes.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Robert Carl timeline

  1. Since 1994, Carl has been a critic for Fanfare magazine, where he writes extensively on new music recordings.
  2. New World Records Smigel, Eric. 2012. "Liner Notes for Carl’s From Japan".

The world when Robert Carl was born

Robert Carl was born in 1954. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1954

  • #1 song"Sh-Boom" – The Crew-Cuts
  • Top movieOn the Waterfront
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookLord of the Flies – William Golding

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentRoger Bannister breaks the 4-minute mile
  • Top headlineSupreme Court rules school segregation unconstitutional
  • Technology milestoneFirst nuclear power plant begins operation (USSR)
  • Defining fadRock and roll emerges
  • Notable inventionNonstick pan (Tefal)
  • World population2.72 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population162.0M

1954 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Robert Carl's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19542026
Gas$0.29$3.45/gal
Average home$10,250$435,000
Average income$5,800$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.49$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population162.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.