bio

Robert Humber is an award-winning composer, singer-songwriter, producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist based in Western Newfoundland, Canada. His music has been described as “deeply personal yet universally resonant.” (Independent Spirits) Never content to remain in one place creatively, he has written for a variety of ensembles and mediums, including orchestras, ballet/contemporary dance works, film, chamber music, installations, Gamelan, and more. Furthermore, he leads the alt folk/rock project R Sheaves and plays in several bands locally in Corner Brook, NL.

Since 2024, Robert has won first prize in SOCAN’s Young Composer competition and Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Competition. His music has been performed throughout North America, Germany and the UK. He wrote a “Winnie the Pooh” ballet for Kittiwake Ballet in 2025. That year he also released “threnody for rocking chair” via People Places Record. It is a MusicNL-nominated album of experimental ambient music that originated as an outdoor dance installation in collaboration with “Candice Pike in Motion.” PAN M 360 called it “a soothing dive into a sound world tinged with gentle nostalgia.” In March 2026, Robert released “into air” via Redshift Records. Comprised of layered, often virtuosic compositions for multi-tracked instrumentalists, the album has been described as “post-spectralist in its use of texture and pulsed minimalism. It is thoroughly modern, melodic, and microtonal in turns.” (Ludwig Van) Other recent commissions include “elegy half erased” for Greenwich Trio, “some chords for angel island” for Astralis Quartet, “cusp” for Heather Tuach and “ingsongs” for Stephen Eckert.

R Sheaves is Robert’s alt rock/folk project. In 2025, they released their debut album “MARY SPINS” via Milltown Records. The album was nominated for 3 MusicNL awards (Best Songwriter, Best Folk Artist, Rising Artist). The legendary St. John’s store Fred’s Records called it a “lo-fi masterpiece, the master of all sleepers in 2025” and made it a staff pick of the year. R Sheaves has been Artist-in-Residence with Lawnya Vawnya in 2026, Corner Brook Rotary Arts Centre in 2025, and CB Nuit currently. Recently picked up by the label Laughing Heart Music, R Sheaves plans on releasing their sophomore record in Summer 2026. This summer, they are also planning their first Canadian tour, and they have upcoming festival performances that include Writers at Woody Point (opening for Sarah Harmer).

Robert completed a Bachelor of Music Composition from Memorial University of St. John’s in 2017, where he studied with Andrew Staniland and Clark Ross. He then completed a Master’s degree in Music Composition from University of British Columbia in 2019, where he studied with Jocelyn Morlock, Dorothy Chang and Stephen Chatman. Robert has also attended workshops/institutes at Lunenberg Academy of Music Performance (2017, 2018, 2019), Tuckamore Music Festival (2019) and Winnipeg New Music Festival (2024).

Looking forward in 2026, Robert has upcoming premieres of commissions from Arlan Vriens and Duo Concertante. Together with Nautilus Collective, a multidisciplinary group he is a member of, he is working on the large-scale dance/piano/electronics piece “viscera.” He is working on an extended work for dance and solo cello in collaboration with Vernon Regehr and Stephanie Barron. He is also working on a shadow-puppet ballet. The next R Sheaves album is completed and should be released soon. He is currently co-writing, co-producing and performing on fiddler/vocalist Jessica Pereversoff’s debut album. He is also married to her.

Robert and Jessica live in Corner Brook, in a creaky little house on a hill with their strange dog Beans. They both teach private music lessons.