Robert McDonald tours extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. He has appeared with major orchestras in the United States and was the recital partner for many years to Isaac Stern and other distinguished instrumentalists. He has played with the Takács, Vermeer, Juilliard, Brentano, Borromeo, American, Shanghai, and St. Lawrence string quartets, as well as Music from Marlboro. His discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Bridge, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, ASV, and CRI.

Mr. McDonald's prizes include the gold medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition, and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award. With degrees from Lawrence University, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music, he studied with Theodore Rehl, Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Beveridge Webster, and Gary Graffman.

A member of the piano faculty at Juilliard since 1999, Mr. McDonald joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007.