Bios
Short Bio
American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker in all its diversity—born and raised in Buffalo, NY, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces everything from the environment to goddesses, online dating to mathematics. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Robert Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poems, Dark Mountains and Triple Concerto, regularly air on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with the Nashville Opera, then at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and across the United States. The Oratorio Society of New York, Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his music. Paterson has given masterclasses at numerous institutions, such as the Curtis Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and New York University. He serves as Artistic Director for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and an advocate for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with seminal works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees. robertpaterson.com
[264 Words / April 2024]
Long Bio
A "modern-day master" and often the "highlight of the program" (The New York Times), American composer Robert Paterson is loved by audiences and performers worldwide. His colorful music embraces his reverence for the natural world and the environment, from goddesses to online dating, to humor in music to mathematics. He was awarded Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall in 2011, and Whitman's America had its Carnegie Hall debut with Oratorio Society of New York in 2022.
His opera Three Way won the Grammy® for Best Classical Producer of the Year, and his music has been named “Best of the Year” on National Public Radio and featured numerous times on NPR's Performance Today. “A bright and magnificent score”(Opera News), Three Way premiered with the Nashville Opera and then at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and his operas continue to be performed with companies across the United States.
His music has been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Musica Sacra, Albany Symphony, Opera Memphis, and many more. Shine received its world premiere with the American Brass Quintet at the Aspen Music Festival and continues to be performed at Juilliard, Princeton, and nationwide.
Robert Paterson is passionate about writing for choir. The Oratorio Society of New York debuted Whitman's America at Carnegie Hall, and his choral works have been commissioned, premiered, and performed by some of the greatest choirs in the world, including the Chamber Choir of Europe, Musica Sacra, Ember Choral Arts, Atlanta Master Chorale, New York Choral Society, Albany Pro Musica and New Amsterdam Singers. Musica Sacra and Maestro Kent Tritle recorded Eternal Reflections, an entire choral album that is listened to and performed worldwide.
His awards include the Copland Award, a three-year Music Alive! grant from the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA, as well as awards from the Utah Arts Festival, the American Composers Forum, ASCAP, and fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Copland House.
Born in 1970, Paterson was raised in Buffalo, New York, lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs near the Adirondacks. He is the son of the distinguished American sculptor and painter couple Eleanor and Tony Paterson. Although visual art was a constant in his life, his first love was percussion, and he discovered a passion for writing, composing his first piece at age thirteen. In the late 1980s, Paterson pioneered the development of a six-mallet marimba technique and presented the world’s first all-six-mallet marimba recital at the Eastman School of Music in 1993. He released the first-ever album of six-mallet music, Six Mallet Marimba, in 2012 (AMR), to a sold-out crowd at the Rubin Museum in Chelsea, NYC.
Paterson holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (BM), Indiana University (MM), and Cornell University (DMA). In 2005, Paterson founded American Modern Ensemble and serves as Artistic Director for Mostly Modern Projects, which includes Mostly Modern Festival USA, Mostly Modern Festival | The Netherlands, and the affiliated record label American Modern Recordings. He has given master classes at numerous colleges and universities, most recently at the Curtis Institute of Music, Aspen Music School & Festival, University of Denver, New York University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Robert is a lifelong vegan and an advocate for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with seminal works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees. Robert lives with his wife, Victoria, and son, Dylan, in Saratoga Springs, New York. robertpaterson.com
[611 Words / April 2024]
NOTE: the correct spelling is Robert Paterson (complete first name and last name with one 't') for all bios, programs, notes, and press materials.
Paterson was born on April 29, 1970 in Buffalo, NY, USA