Flutist, composer and conductor Robert Aitken was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada. He considers Marcel Moyse, with whom he studied intermittently for 9 years in Vermont and in Europe, as his most significant flute teacher. However, he also studied with Jean Pierre Rampal (Paris, Nice), Severino Gazzeloni (Rome), André Jaunet (Zurich) and Hubert Barwähser (Amsterdam).

Aitken taught at University of Toronto, the Banff School of Fine Arts (Alberta)and at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg. He regularly teaches master classes all over the world. Some 50 works have been written for him by noted composers. His compositional work has been profoundly influenced by the contact with non-Western musical cultures.