Robert Newell (born 1940), known internationally both as composer and conductor, received his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois. He studied with Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, with conductors Eric Leinsdorf and Charles Munch. Robert was twice a Fulbright grantee, first to Paris, where he studied two years under Olivier Messiaen, then again as conductor and lecturer in South America during the 1980's and 90's.