Robert Scott Thompson is a composer of instrumental and electroacoustic music. He earned the B.Mus. degree from the University of Oregon and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at San Diego. His primary teachers include Bernard Rands, Roger Reynolds, Joji Yuasa and F. Richard Moore. He creates work in a wide variety of forms ranging from chamber and orchestral music to works for the virtuoso soloist, computer music, and video and performance art.

He is the recipient of several important prizes and distinctions for his music including the First Prize in Musica Nova 2003 (Czech Republic), First Prize in the 2001 Pierre Schaeffer competition (Italy) and awards in the XVI Concorso Internazionale “Luigi Russolo” (Italy), Irino Prize Foundation Competition for chamber Music (Japan), and Concours International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges (France), among others.

He was a Research Assistant of the Center for Music Experiment (CME) computer Audio Research Lab (CARL) during the 1980’s, assisting significant composers in the realization of advance computer music works. In 1991, he was named a Fulbright Research Scholar and was Composer in Residence at the Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music (DIEM) where he collaborated on fundamental research and composed the long-form computer music work – The Strong Eye. Over the past decade, he has become increasingly well known internationally for his instrumental and computer music works and also for his many recordings which have been broadcast worldwide.

While composing and recording takes up most of his creative time, he is also involved in various tangent activities. He is active as a composer for feature films and as a mastering engineer, creating master recordings for labels such as Funtone and CRI (Composer Recordings Inc.).

He is a contributing author for two books, Computer Music Techniques for the Electronic Musician and software Synthesis, Sound Design and Programming, both by Dr. Eduardo Reck Miranda and published by Focal Press in 1998 and 2002 respectively. He is currently developing a book with A-R editions on the subject of musical signal processing and sonic design. He was named the distinguished Honor’s Professor at Georgia State University in 1994 where he is Professor of Music, working in the areas of composition, electroacoustic music and music technology studies.

His music is published on recordings by EMF Media, Neuma, Drimala, Capstone, Hypnos, Oasis/Mirage, Groove, Lens, Space for Music, Zero Music and Aucourant record labels, among others.