Born in Edinburgh in 1975, Robert studied violin and piano at the Royal College of Music in London where he graduated with Honours in 1997, and also gained the Associateship Diploma of the Royal College of Music in Violin Performance.

Robert’s interest in conducting began at an early age and in 1993 he was invited to conduct the Royal Scottish National Orchestra by its then Musical Director, Walter Weller. Having conducted all of the youth orchestras of which he was a member, including the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra, Robert is now a regular guest conductor of many groups including the Rose Street Ensemble, the Scottish Borders Community Orchestra and The Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra. Currently the conductor of the Dundee Symphony Orchestra, the Edinburgh Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Canongait, Robert has conducted much of the great symphonic repertoire including symphonies by Schumann, Dvorak, Sibelius, Mahler and Bruckner as well as productions of Julius Caesar, Carmen, Tosca, Die Fledermaus, Bittersweet, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and numerous Gilbert & Sullivan operas.

In 2001, Robert came second in the British Reserve Insurance Conducting Competition in Cardiff and has also enjoyed success abroad having been invited to conduct the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra in the final concert of the Vienna International Mastercourse Series, where he gained their Diploma. Additionally he gained the Diploma of the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, on this occasion conducting the Varna Symphony Orchestra and he recently participated in the

International Masterclass with Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and the Thuringen Philharmonie in Gotha, Germany. He has also worked with orchestras in Belgium, Bulgaria, Spain and the U.S.A. and in 2007 he participated in the Fourth Lovro von Matacic International Conducting Competition in Zagreb, Croatia.

Highlights in recent years included Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Edinburgh Symphony Orchestra, The Merry Wives of Windsor with Fife Opera, the two Brahms Piano Concerti with Murray McLachlan in the Edinburgh Festival, his first ever appearance as a harpsichord soloist in Bach’s D minor Keyboard Concerto with the Gecko Ensemble, what is believed to be the Scottish premiere of Elgar’s ballet The Sanguine Fan and a BBC Radio 3 Broadcast with the Dundee Symphony Orchestra. 2009 saw special concerts commemorating the respective anniversaries of Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn including Messiah, Judas Maccabaeus and The Creation, performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Dundee and Edinburgh, Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony in the Edinburgh Festival, Brahms’s A German Requiem, conducting the final of the inaugural Watson Forbes International Viola Competition in St Andrews with the Rose Street Ensemble and his qualification for the Leeds Conductor’s Competition. In 2010, Robert paid particular homage to the bicentenary of the birth of Robert Schumann with numerous performances of his works.

As a violin and viola soloist, Robert has performed concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruch and Brahms and has extensively toured Europe as an orchestral player in venues including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The Hofburg Palace in Vienna and the Royal Albert Hall in London. In addition, he has freelanced with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Concert Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Scotland.