Robert Bernat; Founder of River City Brass Band, Composer

Robert Bernat, 63, professor, composer and founder of Pittsburgh’s River City Brass Band. After studying brass bands in Great Britain as an exchange artist, Bernat established the Pittsburgh band in 1981. His best-known compositions were a fantasy piece for the band, “Dunlap’s Creek,” and “In Memoriam: John F. Kennedy,” which he composed for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Once a visiting Woodrow Wilson Fellow at CalArts, Bernat taught or served in administrative positions at Bethany College, Brandeis, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State and the University of Pittsburgh. He also served as a staff composer at Harvard University’s Loeb Drama Center. On Saturday in Pittsburgh of lung cancer.