Robert Quinney was born in Nottingham, UK, and began his musical life as a chorister in Dundee Cathedral Choir. He was subsequently Organ Scholar of King’s College, Cambridge, where he completed his undergraduate and graduate studies. A performing career took him to London, where he worked first at Westminster Cathedral, then for nine years as Sub-Organist at Westminster Abbey, during which time he performed at several important national and state occasions – including, in 2011, the Marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales. He was also active playing keyboard continuo with orchestras including The English Concert and English Baroque Soloists. After a short period as Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral he moved to Oxford in 2014.

He directs the world-famous Choir of New College, Oxford, where he is Tutorial Fellow in Music; he is also an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Music. Alongside his work at Oxford he maintains a busy schedule as a solo organist. From 2022 to 2025 he was been Director of the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy. 

His choral and organ recordings have been widely acclaimed: of one disc of organ music by J. S. Bach, Gramophone wrote that »Quinney’s Bach gets to the heart of the music with refreshing clarity and a communication born of genuine understanding«. He appears as organist on many recordings with The Sixteen. He made his debut at the Royal Festival Hall in 2017, returning there with a second all-Bach programme in March 2023. Away from the UK he has recently given recitals in the Netherlands, Geneva and Stockholm.