Vinko Globokar was born in 1934 in Anderny, France. He started his career as a jazz musician and continued the study of trombone at the Paris National Conservatoire where he also studied composition and conducting with René Leibowitz. He later went on to study composition with Luciano Berio.

As a solo trombonist he has premiered many works, including pieces written by Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, René Leibowitz, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Toru Takemitsu.

His compositional output is wide, having written around 100 works, including solo, chamber, orchestral and choral works as well as opera. His music is published by C.F. Peters and Ricordi.

His conducting engagements include the Westdeutscher Symphonie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Jerusalem Symphony, Finish Radio, Warsaw Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic orchestras.

From 1967 to 1976 he was professor at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. In 1969 he was among the founders of the free improvisation group "New Phonic Art". From 1973 to 1980 he ran the department of instrumental and vocal research at IRCAM in Paris and from 1980 to 2000 he was responsible for the teaching and conducting the 20th-century repertoire at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence.