Robert Kennedy is a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he studied organ with Kenneth Meek and Gerald Wheeler. He graduated from McGill in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in classics and the associate’s diploma in piano (A.Mus.).
He studied at the Royal College of Music from 1968 to 1969, taking conducting with Vernon Handley, and organ with Sir John Dykes Bower and Ralph Downes. He earned the Associate’s diploma, ARCM, from the Royal College of Music, and the Fellow’s and Choirmaster’s diplomas, FRCO(CHM), of the Royal College of Organists.
In a career in church music spanning 45 years from 1962 to 1997, Kennedy served as organist and choirmaster at Maisonneuve-St. Cuthbert’s Presbyterian Church; St. Columba’s Anglican Church; Westmount Park United Church in Montreal; Muswell Hill Presbyterian Church in London, England; St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Bay Shore, New York; Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York; St. Michael’s Church in Litchfield, Connecticut; Christ Church Cathedral; and Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Nassau, Bahamas.
Kennedy lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, until spring of 2023. He currently resides in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He has been a volunteer and staff member at The Classical Station since June 1999. Rob hosted and programmed Peaceful Reflections from 2002 to 2010, and now programs this Sunday evening show. He hosted Great Sacred Music from 2010 until 2023. Rob arranges and records interviews with musicians for Preview!, and hosts My Life in Music. His favorite composers are Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Schubert.
From Robert: “The Classical Station means the world to me. It filled the enormous void in my life left by my wife Nancy’s death in 1998. The reach of the station is tremendous thanks to streaming, apps, smart devices, and our listeners.”