Robbin, Catherine
Robbin, Catherine
Robbin, Catherine , Canadian mezzo-soprano; b. Toronto, Sept. 28, 1950. She studied at the Royal Cons. of Music in Toronto (B.A., 1977), and with Jacob Hamm and Phyliss Mailing in Vancouver, Audrey Langford in London, Ré Koster in Canada, and Sir Peter Pears in England. In 1972 she made her professional debut as a soloist in Messiah with the St. Catharines Sym. Orch. In 1978 she won the Caplet Award at the Concours international de chant in Paris and the Silver Medal at the Concours international in Geneva, and in 1979 the Gold Award in the Benson & Hedges International Competition for Concert Singers. In 1979 she sang Britten’s Lucretia at the Aldeburgh Festival and in 1981 she made her N.Y. recital debut. She subsequently devoted herself principally to a career as a concert and oratorio singer with engagements in leading North American and European music centers. Her later operatic appearances included Tchaikovsky’s Olga at the Lyons Opera (1984), and various Handelian roles, among them Cleone in Washington, D.C., and N.Y. (1985), Orlando at the London Promenade Concerts (1989), and Rinaldo in Blackheath (1996). While her concert and oratorio performances have been especially successful in the Baroque repertoire, she has also won acclaim for her Mahler and Elgar.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire