Robbie Darling is a multi-instrumentalist performer and teacher based out of Los Angeles, California. He is currently working towards receiving his masters in Percussion Performance studying under Theresa Dimond and Gregory Goodall at UCLA. Robbie received his Bachelors in Percussion Performance from the prestigious Indiana University, Bloomington Jacobs School of Music. While at Indiana he studied under and worked closely with Kevin Bobo, John Tafoya, Joseph Gramley, Steve Houghton, and Joe Galvin. During his time at IU, he played in a multitude of groups including orchestra, wind ensemble, percussion ensemble, steel pan, Brazilian ensemble, Electric Guitar ensemble, and many others. For his Junior Recital, he also received a Performers Certificate which requires a nomination and a unanimous yes from five non-percussion music faculty.
Robbie has been teaching the Sequoia Lake Music Camp since 2019 as the percussion coach and lessons instructor. He also taught as percussion staff for the summer orchestra festival FOOSA in 2023. While teaching these camps, he is responsible for coaching during ensembles, giving private lessons, and playing alongside the students. Robbie has also had a consistent set of drum set and percussion students since 2019 that he still teaches today. His percussion students have all consistently made state and county honor groups consistently and placed top 3 in solo competitions in California.
While focusing on solo repertoire, Robbie gravitated towards solo marimba because he discovered that it was the most genuine way for him to express his musical ideas. The marimba, while played with four mallets, can play most piano and guitar repertoire. There is also a growing demand as of the past 20 years for solo marimba repertoire, especially in Japan and the United States.
On the classical side, he has been playing with the Music in the Mountains Summer Orchestra since 2019 performing works such as Carmina Burana, the Toy Story soundtrack with film, and numerous John Philip Sousa marches. He also played principal timpani with the FOOSA Philharmonic at Disney Hall in 2023, playing on Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 and Scriabin Poem of Ecstasy.
Alongside Robbie's teaching and scholastic efforts, he has been expanding his performance and recording skills by playing multiple shows on drum set with his band that he co-founded named Terrestria, releasing albums and EP's that he's recorded and co-produced, and written, mixed, and released solo music of his own on guitar. The pandemic pushed many people in various directions, and Robbie decided to put all of his creative energy, time and effort into writing, recording, and marketing his projects.Â