Robin Parkinson Vice President, Education & Community Engagement

(716) 242-7808 rparkinson@bpo.org   Robin Parkinson received her Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School in bassoon performance, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from Tufts University, as well as a Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory. Under her direction, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has reached an all-time high of over 50,000 students served throughout Western New York.  Since joining the BPO staff in 2009, she has led many new initiatives such as live broadcasts of youth concerts into the schools, a neighborhood outreach program called West Side Connection, use of Carnegie Hall’s innovative Link Up program in Buffalo, and an annual Side by Side concert with the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts.  She has also piloted several new adult engagement programs such as the BPO Fantasy Camp and Doctors of the World with the BPO and the multi-media Know the Score series. Robin is an active advocate for music and arts education in Western New York.  She gave the keynote speech for the 2011 New York State PTA Convention in Niagara Falls called, “Becoming an Effective Advocate for Arts Education.”  In May 2012 she received the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts Foundation’s first Friend of the Arts Award.  Most recently in 2015, her work on the BPO’s West Side Connection was recognized with a Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award.  Robin is a member of the leadership team for Buffalo’s Arts Partners for Learning and a graduate of Leadership Buffalo, class of 2019.