Awarded Composer of the Year, Classical Recording Foundation, presented at Carnegie Hall by Christopher Rouse.

Best Contemporary Classical Composition, Robert Paterson, The Book of Goddesses, 55th Grammy® Nomination Ballot.

Vermont Symphony Orchestra commission for Dark Mountains, Jaime Laredo, conductor.

The Book of Goddesses, one of the Top 10 favorite pieces of the year by Classical New England, Boston for NPR's Best Music of 2012.

American Opera Projects fellowship with Composers & The Voice, working with writer and librettist David Cote.

Three Year Music Alive residency with the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, made possible by Meet The Composer and League of American Orchestras.

Composer-In-Residence with the Rocky Ridge Music Center, Estes Park. CO.

World premiere of A New Eaarth, for orchestra, chorus and narrator, author and environmentalist Bill McKibben narrating. Made possible by New Music USA and League of American Orchestras through the "Music Alive!" Program, 2012.

“Vibrantly scored and well crafted… his music often seems to shimmer. One is struck by the lustrous quality Paterson evokes..." – New Music Box

"Mr. Paterson’s Looney Tunes paid homage to the genre-smashing jump-cut soundtracks of those shorts without outright mimicry. He added his own clever touches: snatches of Messiaen and Charlie Parker in “Tweety Bird”; percussive water jugs to imitate the Road Runner’s tongue wags." – The New York Times

“Mr. Paterson is a marvelous composer and conducted his orchestra with glee." – ConcertoNet

"A New Eaarth was an amazingly colorful tone poem... the music was beautifully crafted." – Times Argus

"Creative powers working on a higher plane... one of the major contenders in American music." – The Buffalo News

“Paterson's music is bright and shiny with a lot of timbral spectacle" – Sequenza21

"If you like well-crafted and imaginative contemporary music, you will certainly not be disappointed in the Star Crossing CD, which receives my highest recommendation." – Fanfare