Rob Carnochan

Robert M. Carnochan, D.M.A., died unexpectedly of a heart attack on September 18, 2024 at his home in Palmetto Bay, Florida. He was 61 years old. His parents were longtime Frederick County residents Dr. John L. Carnochan, Jr. and Emily Linton Carnochan.

Rob Carnochan was a lifelong music educator and conductor who profoundly impacted students and colleagues at institutions across the country, most recently at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami where he was Chair of Instrumental Performance, Director of Bands, and Music Director/Conductor of the Frost Wind Ensemble. "Rob Carnochan was a peerless conductor and musical artist, and an inspirational leader to every student and colleague he touched," said the Frost School's dean. "We have lost a giant in the wind band world."

In August 2024, his faculty peers selected him for the Phillip Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship, the Frost School's most prestigious award honoring him as an outstanding faculty member and leader. "You could say teaching is in my DNA," Rob wrote on receiving the award. His parents and several of his siblings were educators. "As a teacher I have three priorities: 1) students, 2) students, and 3) students! Helping them find their voice and way through life, regardless of their path, has been and remains my mission."

He was enormously proud of his former students' achievements, devoting two single-spaced pages of his CV to listing their university or college job placements. "He cares about students and thinks of them as human beings first," said doctoral candidate Roy McLerran. "You don't find many people like that at his level."

Rob found pleasure in life beyond music and teaching. His University of Colorado mentor Allan McMurray noted other passions: "Cars, cigars, wine, modernism, great art, and just about anything stylish." Mid-century modern design was Rob's ideal, and the homes that he and his wife, Karen Salwerowicz, created for their young family reflected that. He was deeply involved in the design and building of their Texas home and in the interior renovation of their Florida home, adding modernist flare with numerous DIY projects.

When it came to cars, Rob went for German design and engineering. He would make performance upgrades to these "family" cars and compete in amateur racing events. He loved watching and attending Formula One races with his daughter Alexandra. His son Addison, who has his own automotive interests, now owns his father's beloved Nogaro Blue Metallic Audi S4.

Rob spread joy, kindness, and love wherever he went. As one expression his sociability, he loved tending bar at gatherings of friends and family. He would create spectacular craft cocktails and saw it as his mission to educate friends about top-quality Bourbon whiskey, a beverage that held a special place in his heart.

Robert Marbury Carnochan was born in 1963 in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of six siblings. In 1964 the family moved to Frederick County, Maryland. His father, who was Superintendent of Schools at the time, was also a musician who conducted church choirs and sang Sunday solos. His mother, who studied and taught home economics, worked with numerous community organization. Music, architecture, modern art, photography, and filmmaking were thriving interests in the household where he grew up. Trumpet was his instrument of choice at Middletown High School where he graduated in 1981. In 1986 he graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education.

Rob began his 38-year-long teaching career as Director of Bands at Dundalk High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, a job he proudly emphasized in his bio as "near and dear to his heart." After four years at Dundalk High School, he was accepted to the University of Colorado at Boulder where in 1993 he received his Master of Music in Wind Conducting. Next was his acceptance to The University of Texas at Austin where he received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting in 1996.

He divided his teaching career between marching and wind bands, and loved them both. He held positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Northeastern Oklahoma State University, and Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas. He spent 13 years as Professor of Music and Director of the renowned Longhorn Band at The University of Texas at Austin before joining the Frost School of Music in 2015 where he would focus on wind bands and conducting.

Rob made the Frost Wind Ensemble one of the Frost School's most dynamic and powerful groups, with 26 commissions and artist residencies under his leadership. He championed a diverse group of composers and artists as he worked to innovate the wind band repertoire. He was an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States. He conducted concerts in Europe and Asia. He produced or conducted numerous recordings and received multiple service and teaching awards.

News of Rob's death provoked an immediate reaction on social media where he was professionally active. "It has really been wonderful to see the remarkable outpouring of remembrances spread across the pages of social media in testament to the impact Rob made on his students and friends, personally and musically," said Rob's University of Texas mentor, Jerry Junkin. "I never recall seeing anything like it."

At the emotional event held at the Frost School of Music in the wake of Rob's death, people spoke of their profound loss, of their appreciation of his "life-well-lived," and of his ability to say "I love you" to personal and professional friends. Allan McMurray offered this reflection on the life of his colleague and friend: "He loved his family, most of all. Next to that he loved his students and his friends. He also loved music, dearly. But in that order."

Rob is survived by Karen Salwerowicz, the love of his life and wife of 27 years, daughter Alexandra Elaine Carnochan, son Addison Marbury Carnochan, five older siblings and their spouses: John Carnochan and Kathy Levitt; David Carnochan and Barbara Watkins; Susan Carnochan and David Ray; Jeannie Hessler and Kevin Hessler; Carol Daiger and Pete Kremers; and aunt Elizabeth deKeyser. He is also survived by his mother-in-law Pat Salwerowicz; his father-in-law Frank Salwerowicz and wife Cindy; sister-in-law Vicky Stafford and husband Jeff Stafford; sister-in-law Stacey Nagle and husband Adrian Nagle. He leaves numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, many cousins, and a multitude of friends. He was predeceased by his parents Dr. John L. Carnochan, Jr. and Emily Linton Carnochan and by his brother-in-law Jack Daiger.

Following a private service, Rob's ashes will be interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland, on September 18, 2025, the first anniversary of his death. He will rest alongside his parents.

There will be a public gathering to honor Rob from 2:00pm to 5:00pm on September 20, 2025, at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, Maryland.

Sections of this obituary are taken, with permission, from a memoriam of Rob by Jordan Levin which appeared on the Frost School of Music's Frost News site on September 18, 2024.

For more about Rob Carnochan, visit the Remembering Rob Playlist of videos on YouTube, view the Remembering Rob Photo Galleries, watch a short video of Rob describing his role as a department chair at the Frost School of Music, or read the full text of the Frost School's Memoriam.

Here are the links:

Remembering Rob Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy-_4tp0FRngYFjrINY5uqA_HxUW-MhOx

Remembering Rob Photo Galleries
https://www.davidcarnochan.com/remembering-rob#1

Video of Rob Describing his Role
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTCUx6aAkHc

Frost School's Memoriam
https://news.miami.edu/frost/stories/2024/09/robertcarnochanmemoriam.html