Robert Starer was born in Vienna in 1924 and studied at the State Academy in Vienna, the Jerusalem Conservatoire and at Juilliard. He became an American citizen in 1957. He has taught at Juilliard and CUNY. He has received two Guggenheim Fellowships, elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letter, Medal of Honor from the President of Austria, Honorary Doctorate from State University of New York and others. His stage works include three operas and ballets for Martha Graham. His orchestral works have been performed by major orchestras and under such conductors as Mitropoulos, Bernstein, Steinberg, and Mehta.
Interpreters of his music include Janos Starker, Leontyne Price, Itzhak Perlman and many others. Excerpts from his book, Continuo: A life in Music, have appeared in the New Yorker and others. Recordings of his music are available from CRL, VOX, Albany Record, Transcontinental and MMC