Growing up in Buffalo in a family of visual artists, Robert Paterson wrote his first piece at thirteen. Percussion was his first musical love, but composing quickly became the place where imagination, color, and structure came together.
Paterson entered the Eastman School of Music as a double major in composition and percussion. The combination would shape his musical identity: a composer’s ear for structure joined to a performer’s instinct for rhythm, gesture, and physical energy.
Watch: Braids — Robert and Victoria PatersonAt Eastman, Paterson presented the world’s first recital devoted entirely to six-mallet marimba music. His development of the technique opened new possibilities for harmony, counterpoint, and color on the instrument.
While studying at Indiana University, Paterson composed his first string quartet. The work marked the beginning of a three-quartet cycle that would ultimately span more than two decades.
During his doctoral years at Cornell, Paterson taught, composed major orchestral and chamber works, and gained formative professional opportunities at MacDowell and in reading sessions with the Minnesota Orchestra and American Composers Orchestra.
An ASCAP Foundation fellowship brought Paterson to the Aspen Music Festival for composition and film scoring, widening the circle of performers, composers, and conductors who would become part of his professional life.
Robert and Victoria Paterson founded American Modern Ensemble in New York City, creating a lasting platform for imaginative programming and music by living composers. The ensemble became known for thematic concerts, outstanding performers, and an unusually welcoming atmosphere.
Paterson established American Modern Recordings as an affiliated label devoted to contemporary music. Distributed by Naxos, its growing catalog has documented his work while also giving other artists and ensembles a home for ambitious recording projects.
The Copland House Award and residency offered Paterson a period of concentrated composition in Aaron Copland’s historic home—a meaningful connection to an American musical tradition he was extending in his own colorful and distinctly contemporary way.
A three-year League of American Orchestras and New Music USA residency with the Vermont Youth Orchestra deepened Paterson’s commitment to young musicians and environmental subjects, culminating in major work including A New Eaarth.
The Classical Recording Foundation named Paterson Composer of the Year at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, recognizing a body of work already distinguished by rhythmic vitality, vivid instrumental color, humor, and emotional directness. The program included performances from his groundbreaking album, The Book of Goddesses.
Musica Sacra and conductor Kent Tritle released the first album devoted entirely to Paterson’s choral music. Recorded at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Eternal Reflections brought together sixteen world-premiere recordings.
Watch: Three WayNashville Opera premiered Paterson and David Cote’s trio of one-act operas, followed by New York performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Its provocative mix of comedy, technology, intimacy, and longing introduced Paterson’s theatrical voice to a wider audience.
The inaugural Mostly Modern Festival brought professional performers, composers, conductors, and emerging artists together in Saratoga Springs. It grew from Paterson’s conviction that contemporary music should be rigorous, adventurous, collaborative, and genuinely enjoyable.
Paterson received the Delaware Symphony’s Alfred I. du Pont Composer’s Award. Soon afterward, the recording of Three Way was included in Blanton Alspaugh’s Grammy-winning Producer of the Year, Classical portfolio.
Mostly Modern Festival | The Netherlands established an international chapter in Middelburg, Zeeland. Its inaugural season extended the festival’s community across the Atlantic and created new exchanges among American, Dutch, and international artists.
Watch: The Winds of TimeThe Eastman Wind Ensemble and a national consortium commissioned The Winds of Time in honor of Eastman’s centennial. Mark Davis Scatterday conducted the world premiere at Kodak Hall on April 15, bringing Paterson back to the school where his professional journey began.
The Oratorio Society of New York, conducted by Kent Tritle, presented the New York City premiere of Whitman’s America in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, joining Paterson’s orchestral and choral writing on one of the world’s great stages.
Watch: Triple Concerto, “Summit”JoAnn Falletta, Neave Trio, and the Mostly Modern Orchestra premiered Triple Concerto, “Summit” in 2023. A succession of large-scale works followed, alongside Paterson’s appointment as Albany Pro Musica’s Composer-in-Residence for 2026–2029.
Watch: Finding Billman — Reel 1Symphony No. 1 is scheduled for its world premiere with the Mostly Modern Orchestra in June 2027. Meanwhile, an opera with a libretto by John de los Santos—The Moon Moth—and The Last Seven Minutes—a work for orchestra, chorus, and seven soloists with a libretto by David Cote—continue to take shape, as well as an upcoming feature-length documentary featuring Paterson's music about a mysterious patron.