Described as “a soprano with an outstanding range,” “a gifted [stage] performer,” (OperaWire), with an “elegant voice” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Emma Robertson is a soprano from Marietta, GA, living in Boston, MA. She holds a masters degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and a bachelors degree in Music Performance from the University of Georgia.
Photos by Gina Licul, 2023
Recently, Emma returned from a two week residency in Mazatlán, MX. There she had several debuts working with the Vinceró Online Academy and the Escencia Ensemble: it was her Susanna debut in a performance of Le nozze di Figaro, as well as her Mexican debut. In addition, it was the first time that Mozart's beloved work was ever performed in Mazatlán.
Emma performs in and around the Boston area. She is the soprano section leader/soloist at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Back Bay. She also is a resident musician at Grace Note Farm in Rhode Island, where she gives frequent and personally curated recitals. She has performed locally with Boston Opera Collaborative, the Tanglewood Festival Choir, the Actors Company of Natick, and is on the chorus roster for the Boston Lyric Opera for the second year in a row. Emma was recently named the first place winner of the Wilkinson Young Singers Fund Scholarship in 2023, given to singers who “demonstrate strong musicianship, versatility of repertoire, a commitment to engage the community with their music, and the determination to make a career in music.”
While juggling school and part-time work, Ms. Robertson was enrolled in the Vinceró Online Vocal Academy. She had the privilege of studying three roles: Adina (L’Elisir), Susanna (Nozze di Figaro), and Musetta (Bohème). Emma made her Carnegie Hall debut with the program in January 2023.
In the summer of 2022, Ms. Robertson was offered the great opportunity to perform Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Upper Valley Baroque Ensemble in New Hampshire. She then made a quick 180 to perform the role of the Baker’s Wife from Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods with the North End Music and Performing Arts Center and the Boston Festival Orchestra.
In 2018, she was cast as Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Aquilon Music Festival and Young Artist Program in McMinnville, OR, her first exposure to young artist programs. The program is still run today by bass-baritone Anton Belov.
In 2021, Ms. Robertson was a studio artist with Opera Maine, where she performed in the ensemble of L’Élisir d’amore and covered the role of Gianetta.
In 2019, she won the Kay and Jimmy Garrison Student Grand Prize at the Orpheus Vocal Competition, which gave her necessary scholarship and funding to attend the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria later that summer. Over the course of six-weeks, Ms. Robertson studied with renowned soprano legend Evangelina Colón (it was also through this experience where she met her current voice teacher, Michael Meraw).
A few months later, she was an Encouragement Award recipient at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Atlanta, GA. Through this experience, she was invited to coach with Nate Raskin, an opera coach on faculty at the Met, and was granted a semi-finalist spot in for the Lindemann Young Artist Development program.
Ms. Robertson graduated the University of Georgia in 2020 with a bachelors degree in Music Performance. There, she studied with mezzo-soprano Dr. Elizabeth Johnson-Knight. Throughout her undergraduate experience, Ms. Robertson gained solo and choral experience that shaped her perception of performing and what evidently encouraged her to pursue a career as a musician. Not only was this the first time in her life that she had decidedly studied and dedicated herself to voice, but it was the first time she put those skills to the test in different competitions throughout the country.
Emma had the immense privilege of taking home the first place undergraduate student scholarship in the 2018 Atlanta Opera Guild Scholarship Competition. That same year, she made her way to the NATS National Competition, where she won second place overall. Just a year earlier, in her first ever vocal competition venture, Ms. Robertson was one of ten vocalist recognized within the entire country to compete at the annual Glenn Miller Scholarship Competition in Clarinda, IA where she placed 3rd at 18 years old.