Morris Robinson is considered one the most interesting and sought-after basses performing today. Robinson regularly appears at the Metropolitan Opera, where he is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Program. He debuted there in a production of “Fidelio” and has since appeared as Sarastro in “Die Zauberflöte” (both in the original production and in the children’s English version), Ferrando in “Il Trovatore”, the King in “Aida”, and in roles in “Nabucco”, “Tannhäuser”, and the new productions of “Les Troyens” and “Salome”.
He has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Teatro alla Scala, Volksoper Wien, Opera Australia, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His many roles include the title role in “Porgy and Bess”, Sarastro in “Die Zauberflöte”, Osmin in “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”, Ramfis in “Aida”, Zaccaria in “Nabucco”, Sparafucile in “Rigoletto”, Commendatore in “Don Giovanni”, Grand Inquisitor in “Don Carlos”, Timur in “Turandot”, the Bonze in “Madama Butterfly”, Padre Guardiano in “La Forza del Destino”, Ferrando in “Il Trovatore”, and Fasolt in “Das Rheingold”.
Also a prolific concert singer, Robinson’s many concert engagements have included appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (where he was the 2015–2016 Artist in Residence), San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Met Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, and at the BBC Proms and the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier, and Aspen Music Festivals. He also appeared in Carnegie Hall as part of Jessye Norman’s HONOR! Festival. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Savannah Music Festival, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Robinson’s solo album, “Going Home”, was released on the Decca label. He also appears as Joe in the DVD of the San Francisco Opera production of “Show Boat”, and in the DVDs of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of “Salome” and the Aix-en-Provence Festival’s production of Mozart’s “Zaide”.
This season, Robinson returns to the Metropolitan Opera for “Die Zauberflöte”, makes his role debut as Phillip II in “Don Carlo” and sings Sarastro at the Dallas Opera, returns to the Atlanta Opera for “Porgy and Bess”, and returns to the Cincinnati Opera for “Aida”. He also makes his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in performances of the Mahler Symphony No. 8 with its music director, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and sings the same piece with the Atlanta Symphony.
An Atlanta native, Robinson is a graduate of The Citadel and received his musical training from the Boston University Opera Institute. He was recently named Artistic aAdvisor to the Cincinnati Opera.
As of May 2020