Robin Thomson

Robin has been a musician since he first picked up a nylon string guitar at fifteen to learn Led Zeppelin riffs.
In 1977, he decide to get serious about music and learn to read. Although an obvious choice, yet not his original intention, he ended up studying the classical guitar privately to achieve this end. In 1980, he successfully auditioned to study classical guitar with the bass viol as a second study at the Conservatorium of Music within the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. In 1985, after five years of study, he was the first guitarist in the state to gain a Diploma of Music Teaching. This resulted in the commencement of a private teaching pathway in Perth initially before moving to the South Coast of Western Australia. During this time he had many opportunities to perform both as a soloist and in a variety of ensemble combinations.
In the late 1990’s Robin started to compose and in 2009, cut off his carefully manicured right hand fingernails eschewing the guitar in favour of the piano. The piano has provided Robin with a wonderful tool to assist in elevating his compositional activities.
Robin’s mainly composes works for piano that provide a useful vehicle for improvisation, his other primary musical interest. He also composes for other instruments/combinations/ensembles and particularly enjoys arranging.
Robin has also produced electronic music releasing ‘Sunyata’ and ‘Allemande’ in December 2017 and A Crash Course in Classical and A 2nd Crash Course in Classical in 2018.
Robin has recently again returned to studying online the Bachelor of Music specialising in Composition with the Australian Guild of Music in Victoria in 2022.
In December 2024, Robin's composition for guitar orchestra was awarded 1st prize by the 5 adjudicators of the West Australian Guitar Society's 2024 Inaugural Duncan Gardiner Guitar Ensemble Composition Competition.