Robert Capanna came to the Settlement Music School in 1976 as director of the School's Kardon-Northeast Branch; in 1982, he was named executive director. Since that time, Settlement has grown to six locations serving over 9,000 students on-site and 6,000 students off-site with programs of instruction and activity in music, dance and the visual arts. Mr. Capanna is an active and widely respected composer. Originally a trombonist, he received his Bachelor and Masters of Music degrees in composition from the Philadelphia Music Academy. In 1974, he was the Bruno Maderna Fellow in Composition at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood and was awarded the Koussevitsky Prize in composition.
Mr. Capanna's works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Concerto Soloists, Penn Contemporary Players, Orchestra 2001, Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, and in numerous chamber music and broadcast series. He has received commissions from the Huntingdon Trio, Philadelphia Trio, the Philadelphia Singers and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, among others.
Mr. Capanna serves on the boards of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, the Presser Foundation and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
