Category: Biography-RR

Producer Biography

Ronald Royer is a multi-talented musician who is active as a producer, composer, conductor, and cellist. While growing up and working in Hollywood, he developed a passion for all aspects of music recording. He had the opportunity to work at all the major recording studios, including Capitol, CBS, Disney, The Evergreen Stage, Fox, MGM, Ocean Way Recording, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros. There he worked with top recording engineers and producers, joined the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (presently called the Recording Academy), and has been a voting member of the Grammy Awards for over 30 years.

For 13 of the CD recordings featuring Mr. Royer’s music, he has been involved in the administrative side of the project, with 7 as a producer. In 1999, Mr. Royer was asked to produce his first commercial recording, Romancing Chopin, performed by the Toronto Sinfonietta and released in 2000. Since then, he has produced five recordings for the Cambria Master Recordings label (Lomita, California) and was the music supervisor for a Canadian feature film Gooby with a full orchestral soundtrack.

His recordings have consistently received enthusiastic reviews, including ones for Canadian Panorama:

“In short, this recording and the music so beautifully performed on it are, and will continue to be for many years, a precious gift to us all in the year of our nation’s 150th birthday.”

WholeNote Magazine, Allan Pulker

“If you like wind ensemble music, this disc is for you. If you want to further explore Canadian music, this disc is for you. Heck, if you just want a great listening experience, Canadian Panorama is a disc for you.”

WTJU 91.1 FM, University of Virginia

“I can’t say enough about this excellent recording.”

bandworld.org – MagOnline

This is an album of firsts: first recordings of these Canadian works, first recording by these orchestral wind players from a suburb of Toronto. It is a contribution to Canada’s 150th birthday, and it is delightful.

American Record Guide, July/August 2017

Producer Credits, Akashic Classics, Distributed by Universal

Journey Through Night, Canadian Music for String Quartet, Odin Quartet. Music by Samuel Bisson, Bruno Degazio, Alex Eddington, Daniel Mehdizadeh, Chris Meyer, Elizabeth Raum, and Ronald Royer (2021), Akashic Entertainment Recordings AE 21009
Panizza Plays Ravel, Alexander Panizza, piano. Piano music by Maurice Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit, Jeux d’eau, Miroirs, and La valse (2022). Akashic Entertainment Recordings AE 22005

Producer Credits, Cambria Master Recordings, Distributed by Naxos

Canadian Panorama, Winds of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, Ronald Royer, Conductor. Music by Howard Cable, Alex Eddington, John S. Gray, Jim McGrath, Chris Meyer, Alexander Rapoport and Ronald Royer (2017), Cambria CD-1227 (co-produced with Chris Meyer)

I Remember, University of Toronto Schools: Alumni and Friends. Music by Billy Bao, Johannes Brahms, Frederic Chopin, Paul Dukas, Antonin Dvorak, Alex Eddington, Felix Mendelssohn, Alexander Rapoport, Ronald Royer, Alexander Scriabin, Sarah Shugarman and Henri Vieuxtemps (2017), Cambria CD-1247
Romancing Chopin, Toronto Sinfonietta, Matthew Jaskiewicz, Conductor, Valerie Tryon, Piano, Nora Shulman, Flute, Kaye Royer, Clarinet, Coenraad Bloemendal, Cello. Featuring new arrangements and Chopin-inspired compositions by Alexander Rapoport and Ronald Royer (2015), Cambria CD-1225 (originally released in 2000 by Polish Canadian Society of Music) (co-produced with Matthew Jaskiewicz & Carolyn McGee)
Premieres, Conrad Chow, Violin, Sinfonia Toronto, Ronald Royer, Conductor, Bruce Broughton, Piano. Music by Bruce Broughton, Ronald Royer and Kevin Lau (2012), Cambria CD-1204 (co-produced with Dr. Jeannie Gayle Pool)
The Hollywood Flute of Louise DiTullio, Sinfonia Toronto, Ronald Royer, Conductor. Music by John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, Danny Elfman, David Rose, Laurence Rosenthal and Ronald Royer (2010) Cambria CD-1194 (co-produced with Dr. Jeannie Gayle Pool)

Film Work

Music Supervisor for the Canadian Motion Picture, Gooby

Starring Robbie Coltrane, Eugene Levy, and David James Elliott (star of “JAG”). A Monterey Media Presentation & Coneybeare Stories Inc. production. Written, Produced and Directed by Wilson Coneybeare. Music by Ronald Royer and Kevin Lau (PG-2009)

Current Projects as Producer

Night Music, Chamber Music by Ronald Royer, Odin Quartet, Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Alexander Panizza, piano, Kaye Royer, clarinet, Máté Szűcs, viola, Aaron Schwebel, violin, Leana Rutt, cello (February 2023 Release).
Reflections: Canada and the World, Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, Ronald Royer conductor. Featuring Samuel Bisson’s Epitaph, Concertpiece for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra, and Daniel Mehdizadeh’s Koozeh (Two Thousand Silent Pots of Clay) for Wind Ensemble (recorded in June 2019). Chamber music by Bruno Degazio, ICOT, Elizabeth Raum, Ronald Royer, Brandon Walker and more (May 2023 Release).
Canadian Piano Music, Alexander Panizza (2023 Release TBA)
Canadian Music for String Quartet, Odin Quartet (2023 Release TBA)
Canadian Chamber Music, Players from the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra (2023 Release TBA).
Colours of Christmas, Jacelyn Holmes, vocalist and song writer, Martin Loomer, arranger, Tony Rabalao, song writer, Ronald Royer, song writer, arranger, and conductor, and Sarah Shugarman, song writer. New holidays songs and arrangements of famous holiday songs and carols, orchestrated for vocalist with a chamber orchestra, and vocalist with a big band. Three singles released November 2019, full album to be released November 2023.

Going over the score at a recording session.

PRODUCER

Educator Biography

Ronald Royer conducting UTS String Ensemble

Educator Biography

Born in Los Angeles into a family of professional musicians, Ronald Royer grew up hearing live music and observing private music lessons. Besides wanting to be a cellist, he was interested in teaching, composing, and conducting. With a deep love and passion for music, all musical activities were meaningful for him. During university, Mr. Royer started teaching private cello lessons. While attending Immaculate Heart College on a full scholarship, he was also offered a position teaching cello at their community school.

He graduated from Immaculate Heart College in 1980 and started working as a free-lance cellist in Los Angeles. During the 1981-82 school year, he took his first composition class at California State University, Los Angeles. As his cello and teaching career became increasingly busy, composition studies were put on hold.

In 1983 and 84, he conducted and coached for the McMaster Summer Chamber Players (Hamilton, Ontario). In 1984, he started organizing, teaching and performing school concerts for the Glendale Unified School District (California), sponsored by the Glendale Chamber Orchestra. During the school year of 1985-1986, Mr. Royer did a Master of Music in Cello Performance at the University of Toronto. From 1986 to 1989, Mr. Royer and his wife, Kaye Royer, jointly taught classes (music theory and the history of jazz) for the McMaster University School for Continuing Education. In 1988, he conducted and coached for the Symphony Hamilton Summer Student Ensemble.

In 1990, Mr. Royer decided to change his focus, moving away from a free-lance lifestyle. During the school year of 1990-1991, Mr. Royer did his Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Toronto. Following graduation, he was offered a long-term occasional teacher position in music at Oakwood Collegiate Institute, Toronto Board of Education. Starting in the fall of 1991, he became a full-time music teacher at Oakwood C.I. teaching mostly string classes, but also a few wind classes. He conducted the Oakwood Senior Symphony, the Senior String Orchestra, and other ensembles. From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Royer taught music at Monarch Park Collegiate, Toronto Board of Education, this time teaching mostly vocal music. He conducted the Monarch Park Choir and was a member of the Monarch Park Chamber Players.

Having been inspired by working with a number of concert and film composers in the 1980’s and with the stability of a teaching position, Mr. Royer continued his studies in composition. Starting in 1993 with undergraduate classes in counterpoint and composition, he graduated with a Master of Music degree in Composition in 1997 from the University of Toronto. Also, in 1997 Mr. Royer was hired to be an instructor of music at the University of Toronto Schools (UTS), which were searching for a teacher who specialized in string instrument performance and composition. At UTS, he taught string classes and grade 11 and 12 music classes, which combined string and wind students. He conducted the UTS Senior and Junior Strings, and the UTS Orchestra. During his time as a teacher, he taught music theory, music history, composition and creativity as well as performance. His overall goal was to help students develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of music.

He was also involved with OISE/University of Toronto teacher training and did educational outreach. One special project was called the Hollywood Sound. In 2004, Mr. Royer was hired to be the composer-in-residence for the Mississauga Symphony, supported by a Canada Council for the Arts grant. As well, he was given a UTS Innovative Research and Development project grant, with support and participation of Leslie Stewart Rose, Arts Lecturer at OISE/UT, who served as project advisor. Study and teaching materials were developed with the goal of teaching music appreciation by demonstrating how music can affect an audience and enhance a motion picture. The Mississauga Symphony presented a student symphony concert for two years. The curriculum was presented to OISE/UT students for 20 years and continues to be taught at UTS.

Other educational projects include:

Composer in the Classroom; to develop a program and materials to help High School students learn how to compose music (2001); The Chamber Music Society of Mississauga in association with the Lloyd-Carr Foundation.
The Storyteller’s Bag Overture and music for The Star Lilly, for the children’s theatre production of The Storyteller’s Bag for Two Actors, Children’s Choir, Clarinet, String Quintet (quartet and bass) and Percussion (2003); Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, sponsored by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
A touring program for actor and 3 musicians geared for grades 5-8 to help teach students the elements of music and promote instrumental music programs (2009-2010); the Brantford Symphony

Mr. Royer has served as a composer-in-the-classroom for the Niagara Symphony, served as a clinician for Share the Music (sponsored by The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall), served as the composer-in-residence for the Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute (summer 2004), and worked on educational outreach projects at UTS with Soundstreams, the Esprit Orchestra and the Canadian Music Centre. As the current music director of the Scarborough Philharmonic, he is involved with educational outreach in the Scarborough area.

Mr. Royer has composed and arranged music for young musicians, including one of his first compositions, Break, Break, Break (Text by Tennyson) for Two Choirs, Children’s Choir and Orchestra (1993). This work was performed by a massed choir and orchestra of over 600 Toronto District School Board (TDSB) students at Massey Hall. Mr. Royer went on to compose another piece for TDSB students at Massey Hall called The Tiger (Text by Blake), for Massed Choir and Wind Ensemble in 1996.

Composing for young musicians has always been special and important to Mr. Royer. A few of these commissions include:

Un Reve Fantastique for Wind Ensemble (1997), commissioned by the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra, for performance and CD recording; grants from the Laidlaw Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts
Capriccio for string quartet or quintet, for the New Music for Young Musicians project, commissioned by the Canadian Music Centre, Ontario Region, grants from the Canada Council Millennium Arts Fund and Ontario, the Millennium 2000
The Great Canadian Story, for String Orchestra (2012), commissioned by Sistema Toronto
A Halloween Adventure for Symphonic Band, for the Making Music project (2014), which focused on creating new music, in collaboration with students, for student performance. 18 schools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board were involved.
Land of Shining Waters for orchestra (2018), by the Kawartha Youth Orchestra (Peterborough) for their 10^th anniversary concert and celebrations.

Mr. Royer retired from UTS in 2018, but continues to compose, conduct, play cello, teach private lessons (cello, theory and composition), and engage in other musical activities. He continues to be an advocate for music education.

Preparing for the UTS Remembrance Day performance (2017)

UTS Remembrance Day performance (2017)

UTS Remembrance Day Concert (2017)

TEACHING

Cellist Biography

Ronald Royer at a 2010 concert at the Cedar Ridge Creative Centre.

“Ronald Royer returned to the stage for a stellar performance of Tchaikovsky’s masterful Variations on a Rococo Theme. What began as a simple theme with seven variations ended as a dazzling display of virtuosity. Listeners marveled as Royer effortlessly tackled the composer’s leaps, runs and trills…”

–New-Press, Les Hammer, Glendale, California

As a cellist, Ronald Royer has had the opportunity to work with a diverse group of prominent artists, such as Julie Andrews, Emanuel Ax, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Joshua Bell, Ray Brown, Ray Charles, Andrew Davis, Placido Domingo, Jerry Goldsmith, Howard Hanson, Gregory Hines, James Horner, Maurice Jarre, Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, Frank Sinatra, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Smokey Robinson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sarah Vaughan, Dionne Warwick, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Williams, and Stevie Wonder.

Born in Los Angeles into a family of professional musicians, Ronald Royer began by studying piano with his mother, Virginia DiTullio Royer. At age 10, he switched to the cello, studying with his grandfather, Joseph DiTullio. He later studied cello with Edgar Lustgarten, Raphael Kramer, Vladimir Orloff and Daniel Domb. While still a student, he had the opportunity to play with the Pasadena Symphony (Daniel Lewis, conductor) and the San Fernando Valley Symphony (Elmer Bernstein, conductor and film composer), as part of a small group of selected music students mentored within a professional orchestra. In 1979, while still in university, he auditioned and was selected to perform with the Utah Symphony for their summer season.

From 1980 to 1990, Mr. Royer worked as a freelance musician, fortunate to have had the opportunity to enjoy a variety of musical experience. He was a member of the Los Angeles-based American Jazz Philharmonic (formerly named the New American Orchestra), conducted by film composer Jack Elliot. In 1981, he toured throughout the western United States with the Harvey Pittel Trio (classical saxophone, cello and piano) for Columbia Artists. He was a member of the Pacific Symphony for the 1982-83 season. In 1982 with conductor Christopher Fazzi, he co-founded and played principal cello with the Glendale Chamber Orchestra, a professional ensemble which lasted through to 1989. In 1982 and 1983, he performed with the American Ballet Orchestra for their Los Angeles series. He performed at the 2^nd American Cello Congress in Phoenix in 1984 and performed with the Utah Symphony in the winter of 1985. During the school year of 1985-1986, Mr. Royer did a Master of Music in Cello Performance at the University of Toronto, and was associate principal cellist of the Carmel Bach Festival in the summer of 1986. He performed concerts and recorded two CDs with the Toronto Symphony throughout the 1987-88 season and was substitute principal cellist for the Windsor Symphony in the fall of 1988. He regularly performed on chamber music series, including several for the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum Chamber Music Concerts broadcast live on KFAC FM. He performed concertos by C.P. E Bach, Lalo, Saint-Saens, and Tchaikovsky, as well as Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody, both of Haydn’s concertos, and several concertos by Vivaldi, with orchestras in the US, Canada and Italy. He also premiered Christopher Fazzi’s Cello Concerto with the Glendale Chamber Orchestra in 1989.

Mr. Royer also worked as a freelance cellist in the Motion Picture and Television Industry in Los Angeles. Examples of films he played for are: Star Trek 3 and 4, Lethal Weapon, Footloose, Gremlins, The Last Starfighter, Firefox, The Outsiders, and Children of a Lesser God. Television shows include Little House on the Prairie, Dallas, Fantasy Island and the mini-series The Thorn Birds. Mr. Royer was also hired to perform for a Los Angeles revival of the musical The King and I starring Yule Brynner, the NBC television special Live From Studio 8H: 100 Years of America’s Popular Music (1981 TV Special), Grammy Living Legends (1989 TV Special honoring Liza Minnelli, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson), and the 32^nd Annual Grammy Awards (1990).

In the fall of 1990, Mr. Royer settled in Toronto, and shifted his musical focus to teaching and composition. He did a Bachelor of Education Degree at the University of Toronto and in 1991, began to teach music for the Toronto District School Board. From 1993 to 1997, he took composition classes at the University of Toronto, ending with his second Master’s Degree, this time in composition. In 1997, he became an Instructor of Music at the University of Toronto Schools, and retired in 2018. From 1990 to the present, Mr. Royer has continued to free-lance as a cellist as well as perform chamber music. He has been a member of the Brantford Symphony Orchestra since 2003.

A recent commercial CD featuring his cello playing is I Remember, performed by University of Toronto Schools Alumni Musicians and Friends, found on the Cambria Master Recordings label distributed by Naxos Records.

In 2021 and 2022, Mr. Royer was cellist for recordings of chamber music by several Canadian composers, including Bruno Degazio, John S. Gray, Daniel Mehdizadeh, Elizabeth Raum, Alex Sandoval, Brandon Walker, and Ronald Royer. These works will be on the Akashic Classics label, distributed by Universal.

He enjoys performing with his wife Kaye, a professional clarinetist.

Conductor Biography

Ronald Royer is a multi-talented musician who is active as a composer, conductor, cellist and recording producer. Born in Los Angeles into a family of professional musicians, he began his career as a cellist, performing with such ensembles as the Toronto Symphony, Utah Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, as well as working in the Motion Picture and Television Industry in Los Angeles.

His concert music has been performed by 70 orchestras, including the international iPalpiti Orchestra in Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, USA), Sinfonia Finlandia (Finland), Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Athens La Camerata (Greece), Joensuu City Orchestra (Finland), and Members of the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra (Germany). Canadian performances have included the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Orchestra London, Niagara Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony and Symphony New Brunswick. The Ontario Festival Symphony Orchestra performed his composition Exuberance on tour in China (available on YouTube). Mr. Royer has worked in film and theatre, and this includes (with co-composer Kevin Lau) the score for Gooby, starring Robbie Coltrane and Eugene Levy. He has served as the composer-in-residence for Sinfonia Toronto, Mississauga Symphony, Brantford Symphony, Toronto Sinfonietta and the Scarborough Philharmonic.

Mr. Royer’s music is featured on 15 commercial recordings, with 6 on the Cambria Master Recordings label (distributed by Naxos). Performers on recordings include the Los Angeles Studio Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, iPalpiti Orchestra, Sinfonia Toronto, 13 Strings of Ottawa, Odin Quartet, HornPipes Duo, Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Triofus, conductors Jorge Mester, Matthew Jaskiewicz, Tomas Koutnik, Eduard Schmieder and Simon Streatfeild, flutists Louise DiTullio and Nora Shulman, oboist Sarah Jeffrey, clarinets Kaye Royer and Jerome Summers, violinists Conrad Chow and Aaron Schwebel, cellists Coenraad Bloemendal and Simon Fryer, trumpeters Brunette Dillon, Barton Woomert and Steven Woomert, hornist Gabriel Radford, and pianists Aaron Dou, Rachel Kerr, and Lydia Wong.

Mr. Royer is presently serving as the music director and conductor of the Scarborough Philharmonic. He has conducted the Winds of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra for the Canadian Panorama recording, and Sinfonia Toronto for the recordings Premieres, with violinist Conrad Chow, and The Hollywood Flute, featuring flutist Louise DiTullio. He has conducted the Toronto Studio Orchestra, made up primarily of musicians from the Toronto Symphony and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, for the children’s movie Gooby. He has also conducted film scores for The Happy Couple and The Dog. He has appeared as guest conductor of Sinfonia Toronto, Niagara Symphony, Canadian Sinfonietta, Toronto Sinfonietta, Stratford Symphony, Mississauga Symphony, Sinfonia Mississauga, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, York Symphony, and the Susquehanna Symphony (Maryland, USA).

Mr. Royer is married to clarinetist Kaye Royer and is an advocate for music education.

Composer Biography

“…by Royer (conductor of this ensemble) is the wonderful Travels with Mozart: Variations on a Theme from the Magic Flute. The quiet introduction is dissonant, but soon the lovely ‘Bei Männern, Welche Liebe Fühlen’ is heard. And then Royer takes the melody to cities Mozart visited—London, Munich, Mannheim, Rome, Prague, Vienna, Paris, Naples—and subjects it to imaginative variations. It is a marvel.” – American Record Guide, July/August 2017

With numerous performances, commissions and commercial recordings, Ronald Royer is a prominent Canadian composer who strives to connect with audiences. Justin O’Dell of The Clarinet magazine writes: “Ronald Royer’s music is beautifully appealing and communicative”, while Stanley Fefferman of Showtimemagazine.ca contributes, “These masterful and witty pieces live up to Royer’s reputation for music that is both entertaining and imaginative.”

His concert music has been performed by more than 70 orchestras, including the international iPalpiti Orchestra in Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, USA), Sinfonia Finlandia (Finland), Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Athens La Camerata (Greece), Joensuu City Orchestra (Finland), and Members of the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra (Germany). Canadian performances have included the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Orchestra London, Niagara Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony and Symphony New Brunswick. The Ontario Festival Symphony Orchestra performed his composition Exuberance on tour in China (available on YouTube). He has served as the composer-in-residence for Sinfonia Toronto, Mississauga Symphony (supported by the Canada Council for the Arts), Toronto Sinfonietta, Scarborough Philharmonic and the Brantford Symphony.

His music has been performed by such notables as French flute soloist and conductor, Patrick Gallois, Hungarian viola soloist and former Principal Violist of the Berlin Philharmonic Máté Szűcs, Canadian cellist Shauna Rolston, Canadian/Argentinian pianist Alexander Panizza, as well as ensembles such as the Gryphon Trio, St. Lawrence Quartet, and The Elmer Iseler Singers.

Mr. Royer has worked in film and theatre, and this includes (with co-composer Kevin Lau) the score for Gooby, starring Robbie Coltrane and Eugene Levy. He composed music for the theatrical production (and commercial recording) of The Storyteller’s Bag. He was commissioned to write a work for Canada Day celebrations at Niagara Falls. His work, Water and Light for live orchestra with fireworks was heard on July 1, 2006 by over 20,000 people.

Mr. Royer’s music is featured on 15 commercial recordings, with 6 on the Cambria Master Recordings label (distributed by Naxos). He has consistently received positive and enthusiastic reviews for his music. Performers on recordings include the Los Angeles Studio Orchestra (Jorge Mester, conductor), Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, (Tomas Koutnik), iPalpiti Orchestra (Eduard Schmieder), Sinfonia Toronto (Ronald Royer), 13 Strings of Ottawa (Simon Streatfeild), Toronto Sinfonietta (Matthew Jaskiewicz), Odin Quartet, HornPipes Duo, Chamber Music Society of Mississauga, Triofus, flutists Louise DiTullio and Nora Shulman, oboist Sarah Jeffrey, clarinets Tibi Cziger, Kaye Royer and Jerome Summers, violinists Conrad Chow and Aaron Schwebel, cellists Coenraad Bloemendal, Yves Dharamraj and Simon Fryer, trumpeters Brunette Dillon, Barton Woomert and Steven Woomert, hornist Gabriel Radford, and pianists Aaron Dou, Rachel Kerr and Lydia Wong. His commercial recordings and live performance recordings are regularly heard on radio, including the CBC and The New Classical FM in Canada and a number of NPR stations in the USA.

Born in Los Angeles into a family of professional musicians, he began his career as a cellist, performing with such ensembles as the Toronto Symphony, Utah Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, as well as working in the Motion Picture and Television Industry in Los Angeles during the 1980’s. Having been inspired by working with a number of concert and film composers, Mr. Royer began serious studies in composition in the 1990’s, receiving a master’s degree in composition from the University of Toronto in 1997. His principal composition teachers were Alexander Rapoport, Walter Buczynski and Lothar Klein. Mr. Royer has received commissioning grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Laidlaw Foundation and more. He is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.

In addition to composing, Mr. Royer is presently serving as the music director and conductor of the Scarborough Philharmonic and has guest conducted a number of orchestras. For 21 years, he worked as an Instructor of Music for the University of Toronto Schools. He continues to teach private lessons and be an advocate for music education. Mr. Royer is married to clarinetist Kaye Royer and has composed several works for her.