Robert Washburn is Professor Emeritus and Senior Fellow in Music at the Crane School of Music of the State University of New York at Potsdam. After completing his undergraduate studies at Potsdam he was awarded a Danforth Foundation Fellowship to complete a PhD in musical composition at the Eastman School of Music. Further studies included a summer at the Aspen Music Festival and School and a season in Paris with Nadia Boulanger.
More than 150 of Washburn's compositions have been published. As well as orchestral and concert band works, they include many choral works and chamber instrumental ensembles which are widely performed. His works are recorded on the Toshiba-EMI, Golden Crest, Crystal, Mark, and Citadel labels.