Don Robin began studying music at age 5 in Chicago, Illinois. At 8, he began studying jazz and composition with Bob Ravenscroft at Alan Swain’s music studio in Evanston Ilinois. In high school Don studied with Alan Swain (a prominent Chicago jazz pianist and educator) and began playing professionally in the Chicago area, accompanying singers and playing in various combos and solo engagements. In high school, Don played in the award winning New Trier West Jazz Ensemble(Steve Kujala and Ross Traut were also  members of that band winning the soloist awards at the Montreux Jazz Festival).

In 1975 Don won the American Music Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Performance of Modern Music and also won a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston but instead, decided to study classical piano in Santa Barbara, Ca with Herman Shapiro (a professor at De Paul University) and a student of the renowned Rudolph Ganz (The director of the Chicago Musical College).  While in Santa Barbara Don played worked in various clubs in the area and also played with the Santa Barbara City College Jazz Band featuring bassist Randy Tico who went on to tour with Airto.

At 24, Don moved to New York City and studied with Carl Mosbacher, a professor at New York University and the Mannes School of Music. In 1987, Don moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and began studying piano with Julian White and studied jazz piano with Mark Levine.  Don played in various groups in the Bay Area and worked with bassist Ezra Gale and also drummer Jack Castillo (the original drummer of Tower of Power). He then attended San Francisco State University, and studied piano with William Corbett Jones. Don graduated with a music degree from California State University Hayward. Don is currently teaching piano in the San Diego area with California Music Studios, Golden West Music Studios, and performing in Southern California with  guitarist James Abbuhl.