A native of the Philadelphia area, Robert Martin (Rob) began
violin studies at age three with Rochelle Walton, a former
teaching assistant to famed pedagogue Ivan Galamian. He
later studied with Julian Meyer and Sylvia Ahramjian at Temple
University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians. At
age 13 Rob made his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra
as winner of the Albert M. Greenfield competition. He
went on to study with Zvi Zeitlin at the Eastman School of
Music where he served as Concertmaster of the Eastman Philharmonia
and performed regularly with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Martin has been a resident artist at the Bravo! Vail Valley,
Skaneateles and Vermont Mozart festivals and studied at the
Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA. In addition
to his position as Concertmaster of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra,
he serves as principal second violin in the Chamber Orchestra
of Philadelphia. He has performed with many other Philadelphia
area ensembles including Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, Opera
Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Orchestra 2001
and the Haddonfield, Lancaster and Delaware Symphonies.
At concert venues in Philadelphia and Atlantic
City, Rob has performed with a long list of touring artists
including Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Bernadette Peters,
Barry Manilow, Elvis Costello, Patti LaBelle, Ian Anderson,
Manhattan Transfer, Josh Groban, Denyce Graves, Luciano Pavarotti,
K. D. Lang and Ben Folds. An active studio musician, he has recorded for
Warner Bros. Pictures, NFL Films and for Sony, Atlantic, RCA,
Island/Def Jam, Jive, Fo Yo Soul and Geffen record labels. His
playing can be heard on albums of Pop, Gospel, R&B and
Hip Hop recording artists such as Phar rel, Ne-Yo, John Legend,
R. Kelly, Pleasure P, Kirk Franklin, Wicked Wisdom and Katherine
McPhee.
