Robert Gibson

Director, UMD School of Music
Robert Gibson
Photo by Mike Ciesielski

Robert Gibson was first appointed to the UMD School of Music faculty in 1980, and has served as Director of the School of Music since 2005. Gibson is responsible for the academic and administrative missions of the School, which consists of 450 graduate and undergraduate music majors, 38 full-time faculty, over 50 adjunct faculty and 17 full-time staff members. From 1993 – 1999, Gibson served as Associate Director for Administrative Affairs for the School of Music. He is the founder of the Music Technology Lab in the School of Music and served as Director of the Lab from 1992-2005.

Gibson’s musical compositions have been performed throughout the country and in Europe, China, and South America, as well as presented on NPR and by noted performers and ensembles, including bassist Bertram Turetzky, clarinetists Esther Lamneck and Nathan Williams, pianists Santiago Rodriguez, Marilyn Nonken and Audrey Andrist, the Stern/Andrist Duo, the Clarion Wind Quintet, Prism Brass Quintet, the Contemporary Music Forum, the Verge Ensemble, the 21st Century Consort, the Meridian String Quartet, the Romanian State Orchestra, and the UMD Symphony Orchestra.

As a jazz bassist Gibson performed with many international artists in the early ‘80s, including Mose Allison, Tom Harrell, Marc Copland, and the late Barney Kessel. Chamber Music, a Capstone CD of his chamber works appeared on Fanfare magazine’s Want List as one of critic William Zagorski’s five notable recordings of the year. In 2011 – 2013, he was a resident composer at the Alba (Italy) Music Festival.