Columbus Symphony

Robert Gillespie, professor of music, is responsible for string teacher training at The Ohio State University, which has one of the largest and most extensive string pedagogy degree programs in the nation. His students teach in school systems and universities throughout the country.

Dr. Gillespie is a past national President of the American String Teachers Association and the past president of the Ohio String Teachers Association. He is a frequent guest conductor of all-state, regional, and festival orchestras throughout the country and Europe, and he has presented string teacher sessions, workshops, and conducted concerts at national and state music educator conferences in forty-three states and Canada. His string education articles appear frequently in all the major music journals. He is co-author of the Hal Leonard string method book series, Essential Elements for Strings, Essential Elements 2000 for Strings, the new Essential Elements for Strings Plus DVD publication, and Getting Started: Strolling Strings for MENC. He is also co-author of the new Oxford University Press book: Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building A Successful School Orchestra Program. He is co-author of the String Clinics to Go DVD series and the Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra texts for GIA publications. He received the Distinguished Scholar award given by his faculty colleagues in 2002-2003 in the School of Music at Ohio State University, and he is a member of the editorial committee of the Journal of Research in Music Education.

In summers, Dr. Gillespie directs the OSU Midwest Summer String Teacher Conference, one of the largest string/orchestra teacher training workshops in the country. Dr. Gillespie is a string educator for the Conn-Selmer Corporation. In Columbus, he conducts the Columbus Symphony Chamber Strings Orchestra and is a performing violinist in the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra.