Robert Toft
Robert Toft holds a PhD from King’s College, University of London and has taught at universities in Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia. He first came to Western in 1989 and over the years has pursued interests in both ‘popular’ and ‘classical’ music. He took the lead role in developing the Faculty’s undergraduate programs in Popular Music Studies and Music Administrative Studies, and since 2000 he has devoted himself almost exclusively to popular music. His research always takes a positivistic approach, and he has been keen to break down the barriers that exist between the worlds of ‘classical’ and ‘popular’ music. He has published several articles that attempt to do this, and his book on top-40 singles from the 1960s (Hits and Misses: Crafting Top-40 Singles, 1963-1971) will soon be published. Other research interests include the design of speaker cabinets for electric-guitar amplifiers, pop singing, and recording practices. He teaches courses in songwriting, analytical approaches to studying recordings, rock music theory, as well as graduate seminars in popular music.
In the early part of his career at Western, Robert’s research centered on the performance practices of singing in vogue between the 16th and 19th centuries, and he has written extensively on various aspects of the topic in a number of articles and in three books, Aural Images of Lost Traditions: Sharps and Flats in the Sixteenth Century (1992), Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart: The Art of Eloquent Singing in England 1597-1622 (1993), and Heart to Heart: Expressive Singing in England 1780-1830 (2000). He also has given lectures and workshops on historical principles of interpretation in Canada and Europe, and through his undergraduate course in bel canto, he still coaches singers who are interested in adopting historically-informed approaches to performance.
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