Celebrated for his “smart, appealing works” (The New Yorker), Robert Honstein is a composer of orchestral, chamber, and vocal music. His works have been performed throughout the world by ensembles such as the Albany Symphony Orchestra, Eighth Blackbird, Third Angle New Music, Ensemble Dal Niente, the Mivos quartet, the Del Sol Quartet, Present Music, New Morse Code and Hub New Music, among others. He has received an Aaron Copland Award, multiple ASCAP awards and honors from the Barlow Foundation, Carnegie Hall, and New Music USA. He has also received residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Copland House, the Bang on a Can Summer Institute, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Robert is a founding member of the New York based composer collective Sleeping Giant. His debut album ‘RE: You’ was released by New Focus Recordings in 2014 and his second album, 'Night Scenes from the Ospedale', a collaboration with the Sebastians was released in 2015. In 2016 Cedille records released Sleeping Giant’s collaboration with Eighth Blackbird, ‘Hand Eye’, to critical acclaim. His most recent Album, An Economy of Means, was released on New Focus Recordings in 2018. Upcoming commissions include a percussion concerto for Colin Currie and the Albany Symphony and new works for No Exit New Music Ensemble and percussionist Mike Compitello. Currently he serves as composition faculty and program manager at NYU Steinhardt.