Sharon Robinson made her
New York performance debut in 1974, collaborating with
violinist/
violist Jaime Laredo and
pianist Samuel Sanders on a
chamber music recital. Of her 1977 solo recital debut, which featured works of
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Benjamin Britten,
George Crumb, and
Sergei Rachmaninoff, the
New York Times music critic Allen Hughes said, "she revealed an artistic personality that vitalized almost everything she played... The cello tone glowed...the result was lovely...an impressive debut." Robinson has performed as a soloist with the symphony orchestras of
Baltimore,
Boston,
Dallas,
Helsinki,
Houston,
London,
Los Angeles,
Minnesota,
Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh,
St. Louis, and
San Francisco; the
National Symphony in
Washington, D.C., and the
Tonhalle Orchestra of
Zürich; and the
English,
Scottish, and
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestras. In 1977, Robinson and two colleagues, violinist
Jaime Laredo and pianist
Joseph Kalichstein, formed the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, a
piano trio. The group, which has performed and recorded worldwide (while maintaining its original personnel), is considered among the finest chamber ensembles in existence. Robinson has participated in numerous
music festivals, including
Aspen,
Autumn (in
Prague),
Edinburgh, Granada, Madeira,
Marlboro,
Mostly Mozart (New York), South Bank (in London), and
Spoleto. She has appeared on television programs including
Sunday Morning and
The Kennedy Center Honors (
CBS),
The Today Show and
The Tonight Show (
NBC),
Great Conversations in Music (
PBS), and
The Dick Cavett Show. She has taught privately and led
master classes worldwide, and in 2005 was appointed to the faculty of the
Jacobs School of Music at
Indiana University. Among the many
composers who have accepted commissions to write works for Robinson are
Richard Danielpour,
Daron Hagen,
Katherine Hoover,
Leon Kirchner,
David Ott,
Arvo Pärt,
Ned Rorem,
Stanley Silverman,
Andy Stein, and
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. The
Cleveland Institute of Music announced the appointment of Robinson and husband
Jaime Laredo to the string faculty in 2012. Sharon Robinson's many awards include the
Avery Fisher Recital Award, the
Piatigorsky Memorial Award, and a nomination for a
Grammy Award. ==Personal life==