Faye Robinson facts for kids

Faye Robinson (born November 2, 1943) is a talented African-American opera singer. She is known for her beautiful soprano voice, which is the highest singing voice for women. Faye Robinson has performed in many famous operas and concerts around the world.

About Faye Robinson

Faye Robinson was born in Houston, Texas. She showed a great talent for music from a young age. Her journey to becoming a famous singer started with a strong education and lots of practice.

Early Life and Training

Faye Robinson earned her first college degree from Bennett College. After that, she continued her music studies at Texas Southern University with a teacher named Ruth Stewart. She also studied at North Texas State University and later in New York City with Ellen Faull, another important voice teacher. These studies helped her develop her amazing voice and stage skills.

Her Amazing Opera Roles

Faye Robinson made her first big appearance in opera in 1972. She sang the role of Micaëla in the opera Carmen at the New York City Opera. This was just the beginning of her exciting career.

First Performances

While working with the New York City Opera, Faye Robinson performed several other important roles. She sang as Liù in Turandot, Violetta in La traviata, and the Queen of Shemakha in Le Coq d'Or. She also won first prize at an audition for the San Francisco Opera.

In 1973, she performed as Violetta and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette for the Washington Civic Opera. For Opera/South, she played Desdemona in Otello in 1973 and Adina in L'elisir d'amore in 1974.

International Stages

In 1975, Faye Robinson traveled to Aix-en-Provence in France. There, she was highly praised for her performances in two short operas, The Impresario and La serva padrona. That same year, she returned to her hometown of Houston to play the main character in the opera Lucrezia Borgia.

In 1980, she sang three different soprano roles in Les contes d'Hoffmann in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The next year, she returned to the music of Mozart. She performed as Konstanze in The Abduction from the Seraglio in Frankfurt, Germany, and as Elettra in Idomeneo, re di Creta for the Schwetzingen Festival. In 1982, she debuted the main role in Luisa Miller at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in France.

Her first performance at the famous Paris Opera was also in 1982, where she played the role of Juliette again. In 1991, she once more sang as Elettra, this time in Amsterdam.

Singing in Concerts

Besides her opera work, Faye Robinson also performed as a concert singer. This means she sang with orchestras in concert halls, performing pieces that are not full operas.

New Music and Special Songs

She has sung with many famous orchestras. These include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Faye Robinson has also been very involved with modern music throughout her career. In 1996, she was the first to perform George Walker's song Lilacs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This piece won a very important award called the Pulitzer Prize for Music. She has also often performed music by the composer Michael Tippett. Her recording of Lilacs is available from Summit Records.

Her Voice and Teaching

People have described Faye Robinson's voice as "flexible" and "silver-toned," meaning it is clear and beautiful. Her stage presence, or how she acts on stage, has been called "charming." After her performing career, she shared her knowledge and talent by teaching at the University of Arizona.