She attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, from which she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1972.
Sharon Robinson made her New York performance debut in 1974, collaborating with violinist/violist Jaime Laredo and pianist Samuel Sanders on a chamber music recital.
Of her 1977 solo recital debut, which featured works of Beethoven, Britten, Crumb, and Rachmaninoff, the New York Times music critic Allen Hughes said, "she revealed an artistic personality that vitalized almost everything she played.
Robinson has participated in numerous music festivals, including Aspen, Autumn (in Prague), Edinburgh, Granada, Madeira, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart (New York), South Bank (in London), and Spoleto.
Among the many composers who have accepted commissions to write works for Robinson are Richard Danielpour, Daron Hagen, Katherine Hoover, Leon Kirchner, David Ott, Arvo Pärt, Ned Rorem, Stanley Silverman, Andy Stein, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.
Sharon Robinson's discography includes over a dozen recordings of solo and chamber music on the Arabesque, Bridge, Chandos, First Edition, Koch International, Sony Classical, and Vox labels.