ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

"Mostly Modern Festival dazzles with its inaugural year. MMF is the creation of Robert Paterson— acclaimed composer— and his wife, Victoria Paterson— celebrated violinist. Together they have created a refreshingly unique and addictive musical experience that is sure to amaze." — Saratoga Today

Robert Vroegindeweij is CEO and Director of Muziekschool Zeeland and a board member of Cultural Board Zeeland, and co-founded Mostly Modern Festival | The Netherlands with Robert Paterson and Victoria Paterson.

Vroegindeweij began playing the flute at the age of 10. Early on, he showed his talent by winning first prize at the National Flute Competition. Vroegindeweij continued his flute studies at the Utrecht Conservatory and at Indiana University in the USA with Jacques Zoon, where he graduated Cum Laude with a Performer Diploma in 1997. In 2001, Vroegindeweij made his debut as a soloist in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with Mozart's Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in the Robeco Summer Concerts in Amsterdam.

After a long and highly successful career as a solo flutist and music teacher at Utrechts Conservatorium and other institutions, Vroegindeweij established and expanded a Cultural Education Coordination Point to an advisory position with the Arts Council of the Netherlands.

As well as his duties in Zeeland, Vroegindeweij is a board member of the EMU (European Musicschool Union), with 25 participating countries, 6,000 Music schools, 150,000 Teaching staff, 4,000,000 Pupils/students, and a 1,500,000,000 Euro annual budget.

Robert and Victoria Paterson founded the Mostly Modern Festival in 2018. With the success of American Modern Ensemble, a thriving boutique record label, American Modern Recordings, and robust lives as musicians in New York City, their mission expands with an educational component that serves composers, singers, and instrumentalists. Mostly Modern is a place to explore & network with distinguished faculty, participants, and guest artists. MMF helps musicians create new opportunities outside normative career paths and helps them find work that fits their passion with new and exciting music-making. 

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, online dating to mathematics. His music is filled with emotion and rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Robert Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the 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 air 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 an advocate 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 who is equally comfortable with classical, healing arts, and popular music. She performs everywhere, from Carnegie Hall, Birdland, and Madison Square Garden, to Late Night with Seth Meyers to The Today Show. General Director of Mostly Modern Projects, Victoria also contracts for opera companies, including her 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 is with Sing For Hope, where she performs in hospitals, vaccination & cancer centers, hospice, senior centers, and public spaces around New York City and upstate New York. victoriapaterson.com

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