Robert Rund

Robert Rund grew up in Saint Louis, Missouri, playing ragtime piano and singing in barbershop quartets since the age of seven. He began composing and arranging music in his teens. Today, he has an eclectic taste for music and art that spans many styles and genres but continues to be drawn to vocal and acapella music, particularly in the barbershop style.

Mr. Rund earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education (Magna Cum Laude) from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Goucher College, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. While at Westminster, Rund performed as a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra, under conductors Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Slatkin, Zubin Mehta, and Riccardo Muti, in venues such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and many others.

In the barbershop world, Rund has written over 100 arrangements, many of which have been performed and recorded by international champion quartets and medalist choruses. The list includes international champion quartets Keepsake (1992), Platinum (2002), Gotcha! (2004), Vocal Spectrum (2006), Storm Front (2010), Forefront (2017), Signature (2019), and Quorum (2022), medalists Backbeat (1995), finalists Studio 4, Jukebox, Bayside Edition, Wheelhouse; International Seniors Quartet Champion, Faces 4 Radio, (2014), International Chorus Champions Westminster Chorus, and medalist choruses, The Alliance (Greater Central OH), The Tidelanders (Houston, TX), Southern Gateway Chorus (Cincinnati, OH), Sound of the Rockies (Denver, CO), and West Towns Chorus (Lombard, IL), as well as Voices of Gotham (New York, NY). In the U.K., his charts have been sung by national champion British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) quartets Evolution (2009) and Hooked on Harmony (1996).

Rund’s arrangements have also been sung and recorded by Sweet Adelines International champion quartets, Frenzy (2017), and Moxie Ladies (2009), and Sweet Adelines International Chorus Champions, Rich-Tone Chorus, as well as 2013 Sweet Adelines International Medalist Chorus, Scioto Valley Chorus (2013), and the Sweet Adelines International silver medalist Skyline Chorus (Denver, CO) (2004).

In addition, Rund has composed vocal music outside the barbershop style including SATB choral works such as ‘Six Choral Settings to the Poems of Robert Frost,’ and ‘Letter to My Principal,’ (poem by Edwin Romond) written for and dedicated to the New Jersey Association of Independent School’s All-State Chorus and premiered at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).

Professionally, Robert Rund has extensive experience in the international arts industry, having served in leadership roles at various organizations in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Currently, Rund serves as Executive Director of CelloBello, the world's ultimate cello resource with over 90,000 unique users annually around the world.

Prior to CelloBello, Rund served as Director of Development for Harmony Foundation International, Executive Director of the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra, President of The American Boychoir School, Founding Executive Director of Community Arts Partnership at the Peddie School (CAPPS), Arts Department Chair at the Peddie School, Booking Manager at IMG Artists and Associate Publisher of Musical America Worldwide. Robert Rund has also led an independent consulting firm, R2C2, for over twenty years, with a prestigious client list that has included IMG Artists, Westminster Choir College, Ensemble VIII, vocalists Jubilant Sykes, Luciana Souza, Kate McGarry, pianist/composer Fred Hersch, and saxophonist Paul Winter among many others.