COMPOSER
&
PRODUCER
ROB MCALLISTER
Music Within is the ambient / modern classical project of Rob McAllister. Under the moniker, the Toronto based composer and multi-instrumentalist creates emotional, cinematic music – from soft, dreamy, slow-moving compositions approaching the realm of ambient, to raw solo piano and string-based pieces approaching upon classical. “I like to look at it like I’m writing music for films that don’t yet exist, or that may only ever live as unique stories within each listener’s mind,” says McAllister. Naturally he does also compose music for film projects that do exist, most recently co-scoring the documentary film Town of Widows.
Rob is a classically trained pianist with a curiosity and passion for learning new instruments and exploring new sounds. This has fueled the addition of many new sound pallets into his productions. In addition to playing the piano, he is a multi-instrumentalist who plays the guitar, trombone, and accordion to name a few. He is continually writing new music, and loves the creative freedom that composing music on a regular basis provides.
Photography by: Stephen Kearns @ S Kearns Photo
rob began his musical journey at the age of six.
Born and raised in Welland, Ontario, Rob McAllister studied classical piano for 10 years. During this time, he earned his Grade 8 Piano Certificate and his Grade 2 Music Theory Certificate. Always keen to learn a new instrument, he picked up the trombone in school and later joined the Niagara Youth Orchestra for five years. Additionally, Rob became proficient at playing the guitar and joined many bands over the years. Currently he is the lead guitarist in a metal band called Centuries of Decay. (See Collaborations below)
Rob attended McMaster University and studied Physics, obtaining a B.Sc. (Physics). Realizing there that he needed to pursue his real passion, music, he enrolled and completed the Audio Production Program at the Harris Institute in Toronto. Upon completion, Rob was offered a 6-month internship at The Hive, an established Toronto music studio. This internship focused on audio production and music composition for film and television. This internship was the stepping-stone from which Rob dove headfirst into his career as a music composer.
From that time Rob has been honing his composition skills and growing his personal catalog to approximately 500 pieces of music at the present time. Rob’s music has been featured in advertisements for IKEA, Lexus, Rocky Mountaineer, Holt Renfrew, Huggies, and Power Athletics to name a few. He has written theme songs for television shows, including APTN’s Wild Archaeology, Global’s Decision Canada (Canadian election coverage), A User’s Guide To Cheating Death, and Last Stop Garage. He has provided additional music scoring for Global’s 16x9, and the documentary films Fanomenon and The Drop: Why Young People Don't Vote. He co-scored the full-length documentary entitled Sister Elizabeth: The Strength Of Faith. Most recently, he co-scored the documentary film Town of Widows, which aired on the CBC.
Around 2019 Rob began focusing more of his efforts on finding his own musical voice and developing his project Music Within. Steadily releasing singles, EPs, and albums, the project now contains a collection of about 150 pieces for people to listen on all platforms wherever music is available. Listen or buy music here.