Dr. Robert McCashin was born and raised in Chattanooga.  As a youth he played in the Chattanooga Youth Symphony, accompanied musicians at Brainerd United Methodist Church, and was a member of the Chattanooga High School marching band.

After high school he attended LSU, where he earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in violin performance.  He served on the faculties of the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Wesleyan University, and was the founding conductor of the Arlington Youth Symphony. He obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Arizona.  He then went on to serve as Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at James Madison University.

In addition to his 43 year career in music education, he continued reaching out to youth, encouraging them in music through Spring String Thing, a summer camp for budding string students.  He also took complicated pieces of works and reworked them so the next generation could learn to play and appreciate the old classics.

He loved music and his career was spent sharing that with all who would receive.