Robert Bernat was an American composer and the founder, artistic director, and conductorof the River City Brass Band in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His musical influences included his mentor, Aaron Copland, as well as other American composers including Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, and John Philip Sousa.

The River City Brass Band is a modified British-style brass band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The twenty-eight-piece ensemble tours extensively throughout the United States and performs more than thirty-five concerts each year as part of its community concert series in Western Pennsylvania.