Trevor Rebin
Composer
Trevor Rabin was born on 13 January 1954 in Johannesburg, South Africa, into a family of musicians. His mother, Joy, was a painter, ballet dancer, actress, and classical pianist, and his father, Godfrey, was a lawyer, musician, conductor, and the lead violinist in the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The two met during their service in the South African army entertainment division. His paternal great grandfather was a Lithuanian Jew who was a cantor and his grandfather, Gershon Rabinowitz, was a kosher butcher who arrived in South Africa in the late nineteenth century. His uncle Morrie Rabin was a piano teacher. Rabin's brother Derek is three years his elder. Rabin described his family as "extremely anti-apartheid". Rabin's mother converted to Judaism, and the family observed Jewish holidays and celebrations. Lawyer and judge Sydney Kentridge and journalist and activist Donald Woods are his cousins. Rabin attended Parktown Boys' High School in Johannesburg and took up the piano at age six. He recalled, "Pushed by my parents, I had two lessons a week and practised an hour a day for twelve years, whether I liked it or not, as did my brother and sister." At twelve, he started to teach himself the guitar using piano exercise books and never had a formal lesson in the instrument. A year later he played in The Other before forming Conglomeration, and later joining Freedom's Children for a one-year stint until 1973. He wrote their song "State of Fear" and toured the country extensively with a same-titled tour. For several months Rabin studied arrangement, orchestration, and conducting from Walter Mony, a professor at the University of Johannesburg in preparation to be a conductor, but he decided to pursue a career in rock music.
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