Childhood

Robin de Raaff grew up in Breda in a musically active family. His father is a pianist and accordeonist with whom young Robin had private piano lessons from the age of seven while individually learning how to play the bass guitar. Through the growing influence of Classical music De Raaff started composing complete instrumental works alongside a switch to Jazz oriented playing as he discovered the bassist Jaco Pastorius, and switched to fretless bass guitar as well. When De Raaff was accepted as a composition student at the Sweelinck Conservatory (now Conservatory of Amsterdam) in 1992, Music of the 20th Century and Contemporary Classical Music became his world.

Early career

De Raaff moved to Amsterdam in 1992 to pursue his Academic career at the Sweelinck Conservatory. The first years his composition teacher was Geert van Keulen, composer and bass clarinet player in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestral, in 1997 De Raaff finished the Studies of Composition Cum Laude with Theo Loevendie, composer and Jazz saxophonist.

In 1999, after finishing his studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, De Raaff become a private student of George Benjamin at the Royal College of Music in London. Alongside his lessons with Benjamin, De Raaff had private lessons with Julian Anderson as well.

Since 2001 Robin de Raaff has been teaching Composition and Instrumentation at Codarts, University for the Arts in Rotterdam,^[14] education a wide array of composers.

Albums

• Jaap van Zweden conducts De Raaff ^[20]– Violin Concerto No. 1 "Angelic Echoes" and Symphony No.1 "Tanglewood Tales".^[21] Tasmin Little violin solo and Radio Philharmonic Orchestra EtCetera KTC 1593
• Waiting for Miss Monroe – 2CD;^[22] Recording of the World Premiere in 2012, at the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. Challenge Records CC 72685
• Orphic Descent ^[23] – Piano Concerto No. 2 "Circulus", Orphic descent, and Violin Concerto No. 2 "North Atlantic Light".^[24] CC 72942 Challenge Records
• Atlantis ^[25]– Oratorio on Atlantis by Hart Crane, Plato, and texts by the composer. Challenge Records CC72808
• Entangled Tales ^[26]– Cello Concerto, Entangled Tales, and Symphony No. 3 "Illumination...Eclipse". Challenge Records CC 72747
• Melodies Unheard ^[27]– Symphony No. 2 "Two Worlds Colliding" for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra, Symphony No. 1 "Tanglewood Tales", and Symphony No. 4 "Melodies Unheard". A Symphony of Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson. Challenge Records CC 72762
• Stolen Back from Time – 2CD;^[28] Violin Concerto No. 1 "Angelic Echoes", Percussion Concerto, Double Concerto for clarinet, bass clarinet and orchestra, Unisono (Remastered) for Orchestra, Ennea's domein for septet, Clarinet Concerto, and In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich for 2 Trumpets, two Horns and Orchestra.^[29] Attacca Records ATT 2017152
• Doelen Ensemble performs De Raaff – Der Einsame im Herbst, Flute Concerto, Megumi-Suite
• RAAFF ^[30]– Recording of the World Premiere in 2004
• Orchestral Works – Piano Concerto No. 1, Unisono, Concerto for Orchestra

Appearances

• Contradictie IVa (1998/rev. 2014 Deuss Music) CD Ladder of Escape 11, Fie Schouten bass clarinet solo, ATT2014140^[31][32]
• Soundscapes - Sonate for Violin and Piano No. 2 "North Atlantic Light", Carnegie Hall version Challenge Classics. Tosca Opdam^[33] Violin & Alexander Ullman piano
• Untangled Tales (2011) for Orchestra,^[34] appears on RECHERCHEN^[35] by the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie conducted by Lothar Zagrosek
• Gemini Gestures (1998, rev 2003), for 2 string quartets, BV Haast, Schoenberg Quartet and the Mondriaan Quartet^[36]
• Un visage d'emprunt (1991, rev 2001) for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, catalogue number CJX6217^[37]
• Der Einsame im Herbst (1998) for large ensemble is named after the 2nd movement (Der Einsame im Herbst) of Das Lied vonder der Erde by Gustav Mahler, appears on NM Classics 92121^[38]