Robert Celedon-Scott
Educator, writer and musician based in Richmond, Virginia
Music
Composed solos
Waylands (piano, 2017) Vicky Chow
Vicky Chow, piano
Stone Residency premier performance
Glass Box, The New School, NYC
February 12, 2019
Stone Residency premier performance
Glass Box, The New School, NYC
February 12, 2019
Two Images (percussion, 2021) Kevin Zetina
Kevin Zetina, percussion, guitar & voice
1:2:1 New Music Intensive
webcast premieres concert
January 18, 2021
1:2:1 New Music Intensive
webcast premieres concert
January 18, 2021
Chime Studies (keys, 2021)
live performance of 2, 3, 4 & 5
(1a & 1b not included)
Classical Revolution RVA Incarnations
The Hof, Richmond, VA
February 20, 2022
(1a & 1b not included)
Classical Revolution RVA Incarnations
The Hof, Richmond, VA
February 20, 2022
Songs & folk pieces
Song demos, 2025/2026
1. Were Born to Storms (Sept. 2025)
2. We Know the Way (May 2026, updated)
3. It Will Abate (Feb. 2026)
4. Overlayer (Jan. 2026)
5. You Decide (Nov. 2025)
6. Calibration (Jan. 2026)
7. Circulation, Circulation (May 2026)
8. Encounter (Jun. 2026)
9. In the Green of Almost Spring (Feb. 2026)
10. Blossoms, Outgrow Us! (Dec. 2025)
11. Complexes 1 (Mar. 2025)
12. Tender Retwining (Aug. 2025)
13. Trenches (Jul. 2025)
14. Bigger Question (Aug. 2025)
15. Curl In (Feb. 2026)
16. We Know the Way (May 2026, original take)
2. We Know the Way (May 2026, updated)
3. It Will Abate (Feb. 2026)
4. Overlayer (Jan. 2026)
5. You Decide (Nov. 2025)
6. Calibration (Jan. 2026)
7. Circulation, Circulation (May 2026)
8. Encounter (Jun. 2026)
9. In the Green of Almost Spring (Feb. 2026)
10. Blossoms, Outgrow Us! (Dec. 2025)
11. Complexes 1 (Mar. 2025)
12. Tender Retwining (Aug. 2025)
13. Trenches (Jul. 2025)
14. Bigger Question (Aug. 2025)
15. Curl In (Feb. 2026)
16. We Know the Way (May 2026, original take)
Concert selections, 2016-2019
1. The Cherry Tree Carol
Sediment Gallery, Richmond VA; Feb. 2018
2. Got herre almechtich
Sediment Gallery, Richmond VA; Feb. 2018
3. The Mountain
Appalshop theater, Whitesburg KY; Dec. 2016
4. Snow on the Mountain
Appalshop theater, Whitesburg KY; Dec. 2016
5. Hanky Panky Nohow
Sediment Gallery, Richmond VA; June 2019
6. Greatest Friend
Round House Concert Series, Richmond VA; Oct. 2018
7. The Mountain
Gamelan Raga Kusuma, Richmond VA; July 2019
Sediment Gallery, Richmond VA; Feb. 2018
2. Got herre almechtich
Sediment Gallery, Richmond VA; Feb. 2018
3. The Mountain
Appalshop theater, Whitesburg KY; Dec. 2016
4. Snow on the Mountain
Appalshop theater, Whitesburg KY; Dec. 2016
5. Hanky Panky Nohow
Sediment Gallery, Richmond VA; June 2019
6. Greatest Friend
Round House Concert Series, Richmond VA; Oct. 2018
7. The Mountain
Gamelan Raga Kusuma, Richmond VA; July 2019
Duo compositions
Two Nocturnes (flute & keys, 2021)
Brandon Simmons, flute
Robert Celedon-Scott, piano
Classical Revolution RVA Incarnations
The Hof, Richmond, VA
September 19, 2021
Robert Celedon-Scott, piano
Classical Revolution RVA Incarnations
The Hof, Richmond, VA
September 19, 2021
Beara Chapel (violin & keys, 2016–17)
Sara Louise Callaway, violin
Matilda Ertz, piano
concert performance at Sisters of Loretto chapel
Nerinx, Kentucky
March 4, 2018
Matilda Ertz, piano
concert performance at Sisters of Loretto chapel
Nerinx, Kentucky
March 4, 2018
Four pieces (bs. clar. & keys, 2023)
Anna Koch, bass clarinet
Robert Celedon-Scott, harpsichord
premier, presented by RVA Baroque & Raphael Seligmann
for international project connecting-the-dots.at
September 17, 2023
Robert Celedon-Scott, harpsichord
premier, presented by RVA Baroque & Raphael Seligmann
for international project connecting-the-dots.at
September 17, 2023
Improvisation sessions
Practice of Prayer (trio, 2015)
first improvisation session
Ben Jaffe, tenor sax
Dave Desmeaux, bass
Robert Celedon-Scott, guitar, viola
Bed Stuy, Brooklyn
September 2015
Ben Jaffe, tenor sax
Dave Desmeaux, bass
Robert Celedon-Scott, guitar, viola
Bed Stuy, Brooklyn
September 2015
The State of Things (piano, 2022)
Robert Celedon-Scott: untuned piano
live at Bellevue School, Richmond, VA
June 6, 2022
live at Bellevue School, Richmond, VA
June 6, 2022
Three improvisations (trios, 2015)
Kelly MacDonald, guitar [1,2], bass [3]
Caleb Flood, percussion, voice, flute [1]
Dave Desmeaux, bass guitar [2]
Pinson Chanselle, drumset [3]
Robert Celedon-Scott, guitar [1,3], synth [2]
Brooklyn, NY, November 2015
Richmond, VA, December 2015
Caleb Flood, percussion, voice, flute [1]
Dave Desmeaux, bass guitar [2]
Pinson Chanselle, drumset [3]
Robert Celedon-Scott, guitar [1,3], synth [2]
Brooklyn, NY, November 2015
Richmond, VA, December 2015
Chamber ensembles
Two pieces (sax, viola, piano; 2018)
rehearsal recordings—
#1, 2015/rev. 2018
Myrick Crampton, tenor sax
Amos Goldie, viola
Robert Celedon-Scott, piano
#1, 2015/rev. 2018
Myrick Crampton, tenor sax
Amos Goldie, viola
Robert Celedon-Scott, piano
#2, 2010/rev. 2017
Caleb Paxton, viola
Daniel Stipe, piano
Caleb Paxton, viola
Daniel Stipe, piano
Earlier solo pieces
Night Hours (piano, 2016)
recorded in Pine Mountain Settlement School’s chapel
Pine Mountain, Kentucky
November 2016
Pine Mountain, Kentucky
November 2016
Writing
Shorter poems
What Is Written
Leaving work,
prison
in a sunny little rush
I savor this warmth
on my back
&
what is written.
But more
the play of light
& chain-link shadow—
ripplings
upon the page
January 22, 2024
prison
in a sunny little rush
I savor this warmth
on my back
&
what is written.
But more
the play of light
& chain-link shadow—
ripplings
upon the page
January 22, 2024
Auggie’s Shining a Small Light
Auggie’s shining a small light through a hole
near the bottom hem in
the old secondhand t-shirt I’m wearing.
He asks
why there’s a hole there
& I show him the dozen-ish little ones
beginning to form up on the chest
He says, “oh”
“why is your shirt breaking?”
I tell him I wish it wasn’t, but also
it is old.
“You wish it would stay like it is forever”
I do wish that
“But everything breaks,” he says
We agree
houses, & people, & plants
& even the rocks
all break, eventually
“Nothing lasts forever & everything breaks eventually”
he reconfirms for me
“No one told me, I just knew that.”
August 26, 2023
near the bottom hem in
the old secondhand t-shirt I’m wearing.
He asks
why there’s a hole there
& I show him the dozen-ish little ones
beginning to form up on the chest
He says, “oh”
“why is your shirt breaking?”
I tell him I wish it wasn’t, but also
it is old.
“You wish it would stay like it is forever”
I do wish that
“But everything breaks,” he says
We agree
houses, & people, & plants
& even the rocks
all break, eventually
“Nothing lasts forever & everything breaks eventually”
he reconfirms for me
“No one told me, I just knew that.”
August 26, 2023
Dogwood Dell
The ground
harder, cooler
than expected
beneath the sheet,
beneath my back—
Center semicircle, Dogwood Dell.
Light filters
through eyelids
Above, turtledoves coo.
And two
ladies’ lively conversation, faint,
from a far-off orbit.
You’re in your
small
brown sketchbook,
as my eye-
lids take big bites of sky
to pool inside my mind
where the blue
turns
to sheer
luminousness.
Regathering
into an unreal-near face
She’s larger than life, turned
with her hand
raised to hair
wind
sweeps aside, wryly
smiling.
Training shirtless
in this ancient arena
Striving
for two-second manuals
on two second-hand
skateboards—a
wipe out.
Then wipe
the wound out
with the inside
of our mandarin orange peel
The colors striking together
May 17, 2026
harder, cooler
than expected
beneath the sheet,
beneath my back—
Center semicircle, Dogwood Dell.
Light filters
through eyelids
Above, turtledoves coo.
And two
ladies’ lively conversation, faint,
from a far-off orbit.
You’re in your
small
brown sketchbook,
as my eye-
lids take big bites of sky
to pool inside my mind
where the blue
turns
to sheer
luminousness.
Regathering
into an unreal-near face
She’s larger than life, turned
with her hand
raised to hair
wind
sweeps aside, wryly
smiling.
Training shirtless
in this ancient arena
Striving
for two-second manuals
on two second-hand
skateboards—a
wipe out.
Then wipe
the wound out
with the inside
of our mandarin orange peel
The colors striking together
May 17, 2026
Issa in Silence
On the sheets, contentedly
I read Issa
in silence
& from fevered sleep,
next to me,
you stir —
—“Robert,
can we lie down together
& rest?”
May 31, 2025
I read Issa
in silence
& from fevered sleep,
next to me,
you stir —
—“Robert,
can we lie down together
& rest?”
May 31, 2025
Longer collections
Centered On Summer (three collections, 2026)
(open PDF)
I. Dimensionalities, July-August, 2026
II. Transport/Exchange, August-September, 2026
III. It’s Already Started, September-October, 2026
I. Dimensionalities, July-August, 2026
II. Transport/Exchange, August-September, 2026
III. It’s Already Started, September-October, 2026
Gold Drops (eight pieces, 2025)
1. Gold Leaves Drop, Oct 16
(at 0:45)
2. Marshaling Presence, Oct 22
(at 1:41)
3. Constellation, Oct 22
(at 2:48)
4. Birds Do Come, June 11
(at 3:29)
4b. on Birds Do Come, Oct 27
(at 4:43)
5. Busy Channeling, Oct 26
(at 9:28)
6. When Most It Counts, Oct 22/Oct 31
(at 12:00)
7. Lineage/Entanglement, Oct 16/Nov 12
(at 14:53)
8. Flight Break, Nov 15
(at 0:45)
2. Marshaling Presence, Oct 22
(at 1:41)
3. Constellation, Oct 22
(at 2:48)
4. Birds Do Come, June 11
(at 3:29)
4b. on Birds Do Come, Oct 27
(at 4:43)
5. Busy Channeling, Oct 26
(at 9:28)
6. When Most It Counts, Oct 22/Oct 31
(at 12:00)
7. Lineage/Entanglement, Oct 16/Nov 12
(at 14:53)
8. Flight Break, Nov 15
About
I’m Robert Celedon-Scott. I write, make art, teach, and try to pay attention to whatever happens along the way. I’m especially interested in how commonplace experiences surprise us, opening new aspects of our self-understanding and relation to others.
Since 2022, I’ve taught music to incarcerated youth in a maximum-security facility. Through reflection and conversation, I make space for agency and resilience to emerge. Whether sitting with the vibration of a guitar string or the weight of one word, intentional creative practice can help us stay in the room with our own lives.
My work is also informed by experiences teaching in rural Eastern Kentucky schools, studying traditional music at Tbilisi State Conservatoire, composing at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, designing electronics at Death By Audio, working as a proofreader and editor, and parenting. Recently, my creative work has begun to move outward from a long-standing introspective practice.
Salient Garden is an accessible practice I’ve come up with to help us participate more intentionally in daily life.
Community is what motivates me. Collaborations with RVA Baroque, Classical Revolution, Peni Candra Rini, Rumput, RAIC, Anna Koch, Kevin Zetina, Vicky Chow, and Carrie Frey reflect my interest in shared exploration across forms and traditions.
I live in a small house near Maymont Park with one unfriendly cat, one friendly cat, my partner, and our two human children.
Links
Elsewhere/links
• Salient Garden
personal cues for flourishing
• youtube channel
arrangements, compositions (& some curated playlists)
• Richmond Avant Improv Collective
free improvisation recording & performance collective
• latechimes.blogspot.com
writings & excerpts from articles & books
• Rumput
Richmond-based Indonesian Kroncong music ensemble
• Rediscovering the 20th Century
incomplete archives of WRIR radio program (2012–2014)
• hickory house
experimental improvisation trio
• latechimes.bandcamp.com
personal composition bandcamp
• instagram.com/robertceledonscott
personal cues for flourishing
• youtube channel
arrangements, compositions (& some curated playlists)
• Richmond Avant Improv Collective
free improvisation recording & performance collective
• latechimes.blogspot.com
writings & excerpts from articles & books
• Rumput
Richmond-based Indonesian Kroncong music ensemble
• Rediscovering the 20th Century
incomplete archives of WRIR radio program (2012–2014)
• hickory house
experimental improvisation trio
• latechimes.bandcamp.com
personal composition bandcamp
• instagram.com/robertceledonscott
Friends & collaborators
• Tonality: An Owner’s Manual
Dmitri Tymoczko’s fascinating book which I edited
• John Dombroski
nomadic improviser & sound artist
• Norma Jean Haynes
folklorist, singer, banjoist
• Carrie Frey
NYC-based violist
• Vicky Chow
NYC-based pianist
• Kelly MacDonald
KY/OH-based guitarist & improviser
• Sara Louise Callaway
Louisville-based violinist
• RVA Baroque
committed to bringing pre-classical music to Richmond
• Classical Revolution RVA
committed to bringing composed music to Richmond
• Peni Candra Rini
Indonesian composer & vocalist
• Larry Polansky
CA-based composer
• Benjamin Broening
Richmond, VA-based composer
• Pill
collaborator Ben Jaffe’s no wave band
• Death By Audio
radical music electronics
• Studio Two Three
Richmond’s community print studio
• WRIR 97.3 FM
Richmond community radio
• WMMT FM
mountain community radio
• Cowan Creek Mountain Music School
traditional summer music program in eastern KY
• Bang on a Can
contemporary music organization
• Appalachian Luthiery
instrument workshop in eastern KY
Dmitri Tymoczko’s fascinating book which I edited
• John Dombroski
nomadic improviser & sound artist
• Norma Jean Haynes
folklorist, singer, banjoist
• Carrie Frey
NYC-based violist
• Vicky Chow
NYC-based pianist
• Kelly MacDonald
KY/OH-based guitarist & improviser
• Sara Louise Callaway
Louisville-based violinist
• RVA Baroque
committed to bringing pre-classical music to Richmond
• Classical Revolution RVA
committed to bringing composed music to Richmond
• Peni Candra Rini
Indonesian composer & vocalist
• Larry Polansky
CA-based composer
• Benjamin Broening
Richmond, VA-based composer
• Pill
collaborator Ben Jaffe’s no wave band
• Death By Audio
radical music electronics
• Studio Two Three
Richmond’s community print studio
• WRIR 97.3 FM
Richmond community radio
• WMMT FM
mountain community radio
• Cowan Creek Mountain Music School
traditional summer music program in eastern KY
• Bang on a Can
contemporary music organization
• Appalachian Luthiery
instrument workshop in eastern KY
International melodies
• folkloretanznoten.de
approximately 2500 international traditional tunes
• hopp-zwei-drei.de/noten.html
approximately 200 international traditional tunes
• spillefolk.dk/nodesamling/
focus on Northern European & Scandinavian tunes
• goldov.com/butterw/emdb/scores.html
focus on Bulgarian tunes
• stammtischmusik.at/noten/noten.shtml
German & Austrian tunes
• digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13782
Middle Eastern Music Archive at William & Mary
• bouzoukispot.com/tabs.php
international Bouzouki tunes
• celticscores.com
many tunes from Ireland & Brittany
• crab.rutgers.edu/~pbutler/music.html
focus on English dance tunes
• tunearch.org/wiki/Category:Tune
Traditional Tune Archive (TTA)
• larkinthemorning.com/blogs/articles/lark-in-the-morning-free-music-library
several international & many English tune collections
• bluegrassmessengers.com/ballads--child-ballads-other-english-american.aspx
lyrics & tunes to child ballads & other traditional music
approximately 2500 international traditional tunes
• hopp-zwei-drei.de/noten.html
approximately 200 international traditional tunes
• spillefolk.dk/nodesamling/
focus on Northern European & Scandinavian tunes
• goldov.com/butterw/emdb/scores.html
focus on Bulgarian tunes
• stammtischmusik.at/noten/noten.shtml
German & Austrian tunes
• digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13782
Middle Eastern Music Archive at William & Mary
• bouzoukispot.com/tabs.php
international Bouzouki tunes
• celticscores.com
many tunes from Ireland & Brittany
• crab.rutgers.edu/~pbutler/music.html
focus on English dance tunes
• tunearch.org/wiki/Category:Tune
Traditional Tune Archive (TTA)
• larkinthemorning.com/blogs/articles/lark-in-the-morning-free-music-library
several international & many English tune collections
• bluegrassmessengers.com/ballads--child-ballads-other-english-american.aspx
lyrics & tunes to child ballads & other traditional music
Valuable resources
• PennSound archive
recordings of modern & contemporary poets
• Tom Johnson’s Music by my Friends
audio essays introducing a range of experimental composers
• Matt Marble’s Secret Sound
podcast highlighting esoteric influences on American music
• Kehlan Morgan’s Formscapes
visual essays exploring process thought, systems, and meaning
• Matthew David Segall’s Footnotes2Plato
process-relational philosophy, metaphysics, and cosmology
• James DeKorne’s Gnostic Book of Changes
a comprehensive I-Ching edition integrating Jungian, scientific, psychological, and spiritual traditions
recordings of modern & contemporary poets
• Tom Johnson’s Music by my Friends
audio essays introducing a range of experimental composers
• Matt Marble’s Secret Sound
podcast highlighting esoteric influences on American music
• Kehlan Morgan’s Formscapes
visual essays exploring process thought, systems, and meaning
• Matthew David Segall’s Footnotes2Plato
process-relational philosophy, metaphysics, and cosmology
• James DeKorne’s Gnostic Book of Changes
a comprehensive I-Ching edition integrating Jungian, scientific, psychological, and spiritual traditions