Robert Oetomo | Percussionist & Composer

Welcome to the website of percussionist and composer, Robert Oetomo

Indonesian-born Australian percussionist and composer Robert Oetomo (b. 1988) is an active freelancer as a soloist, chamber musician, composer and an educator. He has been invited as special guest artist to perform and present masterclasses in numerous festivals and universities around the world including the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg in Germany, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia, the 1st Qingdao International Percussion Festival 2014 in China and the 9th Tabasco International Marimba Festival 2015 in Mexico.

As a performer, Robert has  toured extensively and performed in Europe, America, Asia and Australia with different orchestras and ensembles. He has accumulated numerous national and international prizes and awards including 1st Prize in both the Open Marimba and Open Vibraphone category of the 2010 Australian Percussion Eisteddfod, 2nd Prize in the 2008 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Snare Drum Award, 3rd Prize in the Vibraphone category of the 2011 Percussive Arts Society Italy International Percussion Competition, the ‘Just Percussion Marimba Prize for Outstanding Performance’ at the Australian Percussion Gathering 2010 and many more. A versatile percussionist, Robert has performed with different orchestras and ensembles including the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, the Australian Youth Orchestra, and Synergy Percussion.

As a composer, Robert passionately advocates the development of percussion music. He has composed numerous works for percussion which have been performed all over the world. In 2015, he was commissioned by the Australian Marimba Competition 2015 to write a compulsory Australian piece (Étude de Paganini), for which he was also a jury member of the competition panel. His first symphonic work, Spirit of The Dreaming with solo didgeridoo, was premiered at the 2008 Aurora Music Festival in Sydney, Australia. Later that year, it was performed again with renowned didgeridoo soloist, William Barton. Robert was selected for the 2010 Ku-Ring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra Composers’ Workshop program during which he composed his orchestral work, Reflections on an Islandʼs Landscape, under the mentorship of composer Nigel Butterley and John Peterson. His works are published by Edition Svitzer (Denmark) and Tapspace Publications (USA). Robert is an Encore Mallets, Inc. endorser and is a Marimba One Discovery Artist.

"Technique and virtuosity was sublimated in a performance that was simple, unaffected, elegant and moving."
- Michael Askill

All photography on this website is by Hari Oetomo (unless specified). Copyright © 2016 by Hari Oetomo. All Rights Reserved.