If music be the food of love, play on! Shakespeare

Equally passionate about classical, latin and calypso music, this born and bred Trinbagonian musician launched from the hot and humid shores of the Caribbean, rode the camionetas in South America, indulged the Oktoberfests in Ontario and landed on a 20-foot mound of snow in Montreal. Armed with training from The Royal Schools of Music in England, El Sistema in Venezuela, and Canadian Bachelor and Master’s programs, Kerry takes students and audiences on enchanting journeys through the bore of his clarinet and off the tip of his baton.

As a clarinettist, arranger, bilingual teacher and conductor, Kerry is a musician dedicated to teaching music and to spreading the joy and enrichment of ensemble playing. A once soca saxophonist, pop pianist, jazz clarinettist and business partnership developer, Roebuck’s reach into the worlds of classical music, music for film and music education brings new meaning to all-round musician.

A multi-instrumentalist, this Port-of-Spain born Trinbagonian trained on, but never abandoned, the bugle, the saxophone, the drums set and the glockenspiel before settling down in his early teens to a life with his true inanimate love, the clarinet. Deeply influenced by Geraldine Connor, Michael Steele, Edouard Wade and Eduardo Salazar, Kerry went from singing soprano to a Grade 5 level clarinettist in 2 years…seldom heard of.

Shipped to Venezuela to train under El Sistema, Roebuck added orchestral conducting to his arsenal under the direction of Rodolfo Sanglimbeni, and took Trinidad & Tobago by storm upon his return in 1989 when he performed the Stamitz Clarinet Concerto accompanied by the National Youth Orchestra of Trinidad & Tobago…from memory. This led to his exodus to Waterloo, Ontario  (Wilfrid Laurier University) where he added chamber music to his daily musical diet and worked with a team of clef reading professionals including Pauline Minevich, Paul Pulford, James Campbell and Jan Overduin.

With a fistful of Music Festivals and Talent shows in his pocket, Kerry acquired some first place trophies and awards to write home about, including Teen Talent TV Competition 1988, Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival 1990, Dorothy Elliot Award for Performance 1994, and the Wilfrid Laurier Centennial Fanfare Competition 2010.

From the tip of his baton, Roebuck has wielded a host of performances as the conductor and musical director of the National Youth Orchestra of Trinidad & Tobago, as the band director of the Queen’s Royal College Scout Band, as the choral director of the Montreal West Operatic Society, as a rehearsal conductor for the Westmount Youth Orchestra, as the conductor and musical director of the Chroma Musika symphonic ensemble, and as the musical director and coach of the FACE Intermediate and Senior Orchestras.

Through the bore of his clarinet, and the brassy tube of his saxophone, Kerry has shared his hoot’n toot’n vibes as a founder of the Hill and Roebuck Jazz Duet, the Gillian Guerrero and Kerry Roebuck Travelling Duo, as well as as a member of the Simon Bolivar Clarinet Choir, The Lydian Players, the Brass Institute of Trinidad & Tobago Soca Band, the Magnum Dance Band, the North York Concert Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and the FACE Symphony Orchestra. Lest not forget the other really awesome groups he has gigged with through out the years.

Kerry currently spends his time arranging music for various types and sized ensembles and puts his technological wizardry to use editing music for film. He also teaches young hopefuls to play the clarinet and to interpret music of the masters while coaching woodwind chamber groups through FACE school.

To download Kerry Roebuck's biography, click here.