About The Directors

Robert and Victoria Paterson co-founded Mostly Modern in 2018. With the success of America Modern Ensemble, American Modern Recordings, and robust lives as musicians in New York City, their mission now expands to international festivals, with vital mentorship that serves composers, singers, and instrumentalists. Mostly Modern takes place every June at the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Mostly Modern Festival | The Netherlands is the European edition, taking place every April in Holland in historic Middelburg, Zeeland.

Mostly Modern radiates opportunities for musicians. It is a result-oriented festival, bringing top-caliber distinguished faculty to collaborate side-by-side with young talent. MMF opens doors outside normative career paths and helps find work that fits people’s passion.

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker in all its diversity—born and raised in Buffalo, NY, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces everything from the environment to goddesses and online dating to mathematics. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Robert Paterson won the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won a Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains and Triple Concerto, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and across the United States. The Oratorio Society of New York, Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his music. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He serves as Artistic Director for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with seminal works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees. robertpaterson.com

Victoria Paterson (General Director) is a violinist equally comfortable with classical, popular, and healing arts. She performs everywhere, from Carnegie Hall, Birdland, and Madison Square Garden to Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Today Show. General Director of Mostly Modern Projects, Victoria engages musicians for Mostly Modern and opera companies, including a favorite, On Site Opera. She spans a 20-year career on Broadway, including full-time positions at My Fair Lady, Sunset Boulevard, West Side Story, The Addams Family, and Heathers. Her favorite outreach work is with Sing for Hope, where she is the Director of Community Arts. Victoria delivers vital programs to senior centers, hospitals, and Alzheimer’s patients, as well as to iconic public spaces like Moynihan Train Hall, Union Station D.C., and the Oculus World Trade Center with ‘rush hour’ and ‘lunchtime’ concerts that are free and open to the public.  Victoria brings true joy to communities with live music and in all her activities year-round. victoriapaterson.com.

Learn more about Robert and Victoria here and on the Mostly Modern Projects site. Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page for further information.