Robert Webb was educated at Selwyn College Cambridge, where he held a choral scholarship and read law.  He was also organ scholar and then assistant organist at the University Church of St Mary the Great in Cambridge.  Following a career as a solicitor in Cambridge, during which Robert was also organist at Trumpington Church, and conducted several choirs, he decided that music was a greater calling and left the law in 1996 to become a full time musician, moving to Oxford.  For a time he worked as a motorcycle courier to supplement the income from music.  A couple of churches and several choirs later, most notably the Cathedral Singers of Oxford Cathedral, Robert found himself returning to his native Yorkshire to become Director of Music at St John’s Church, Ranmoor, Sheffield in September 2003, and took up the post of Conductor of the Sterndale Singers in September 2004.

As well as conducting choirs and playing the organ, Robert composes.  His first major work, a children’s Christmas Cantata, “Come Follow Me!” co-written with writer Mellie Buse won critical acclaim at its premier performance in November 1998 in the Apollo Theatre, Oxford in aid of Save The Children.  His commissioned composition, “Wantage Bells” a setting of a poem by John Betjeman received its first performance at a mass held in remembrance of the 15^th anniversary of the poet’s death. His church music is now in the repertoire of several choirs, and many choirs have enjoyed his lighter choral arrangements.

Robert has worked on a variety of musical projects.  He was Musical Director for two grand scale Millennium Celebrations, and Chorus Master for OOMPH, Oxford’s Own Millennium Festival, conducted by Andrew Parrott and watched by over 50,000 people.  He has recently directed a performance of Oliver, the Musical, to great critical acclaim, with a cast of over 120.

During his wide ranging musical career, Robert has conducted many of the major large choral works, including Mendelssohn's Elijah, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Haydn's Creation and Orff's Carmina Burana, as well as smaller classics, and recently a contemporary work commissioned by Henley Choral Society from the composer Ian Crew.  He has led workshops with choirs of varying sizes on a variety of music from plainsong chant to Duruflé Requiem. His energetic encouragement of singers, combined with a sense of musicianship and of humour means that rehearsals are fun as well as instructive, Robert getting the best out of the singers, whatever their standard.