# Irene Roberts (mezzo-soprano)

Irene Roberts is an American mezzo-soprano.

## Early life and education

Irene Roberts was born and raised in Sacramento, California and attended the Sacramento Waldorf School before earning her undergraduate degree from the University of the Pacific and her master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She won 2nd prize in the Advanced Division at the 41st Annual Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition and was a finalist for the 2014 Richard Tucker Career Grant.

## Career

Irene Roberts made her Metropolitan Opera debut in The Marriage of Figaro in 2012, and in 2013 debuted at San Francisco Opera in Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
Since 2015 she has been a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin where she has performed roles including The Muse/Nicklausse in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, the title role of Bizet's Carmen, Hansel in Humperdink's Hansel and Gretel, and Urbain in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.
In 2016 she created the role of Bao Chai in the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber at San Francisco Opera. She also made her London recital debut at Wigmore Hall with tenor Bryan Hymel.
Roberts made her debut in Amsterdam as The Muse in a new production of Les Contes d'Hoffmann in 2018. In 2019 she made her house debut at La Fenice in Venice with her first performances of Amneris in Verdi's Aida.

## Repertory

| Role | Composer | Opera | Locations |
| Amneris | Giuseppe Verdi | Aida | La Fenice |
| Der Komponist | Richard Strauss | Ariadne auf Naxos | Palm Beach Opera |
| Carmen | Georges Bizet | Carmen | Deutsche Oper Berlin, San Francisco Opera, Macerata Opera, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Komische Oper Berlin |
| Lola | Pietro Mascagni | Cavalleria rusticana | Deutsche Oper Berlin |
| Bao Chai | Bright Sheng | Dream of the Red Chamber | San Francisco Opera |
| Siébel | Charles Gounod | Faust | Deutsche Oper Berlin, Baltimore Lyric Opera |
| Hänsel | Engelbert Humperdinck | Hänsel und Gretel | Deutsche Oper Berlin |
| Rosina | Gioachino Rossini | il Barbiere di Siviglia | Deutsche Oper Berlin, Baltimore Lyric Opera |
| Sélika | Giacomo Meyerbeer | L'Africaine | Oper Frankfurt |
| Isabella | Gioachino Rossini | L'italiana in Algeri | Lyric Opera of Kansas City |
| Marguerite | Hector Berlioz | La damnation de Faust | Deutsche Oper Berlin |
| Cherubino | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Le Nozze di Figaro | Deutsche Oper Berlin, Palm Beach Opera |
| La Muse/Nicklausse | Jacques Offenbach | Les Contes d'Hoffmann | Deutsche Oper Berlin, Palm Beach Opera, Dutch National Opera |
| Giulietta | Jacques Offenbach | Les Contes d'Hoffmann | San Francisco Opera |
| Urbain | Giacomo Meyerbeer | Les Huguenots | Deutsche Oper Berlin |
| Fenena | Giuseppe Verdi | Nabucco | Deutsche Oper Berlin |
| Venus | Richard Wagner | Tannhäuser | Staatstheater Klagenfurt, Bayreuther Festspiele |
| Kundry | Richard Wagner | Parsifal | Staatsoper Hannover, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Tiroler Festpiele Erl |
| Brangaene | Richard Wagner | Tristan und Isolde | Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Swedish Radio Orchestra |

## Personal life

Irene Roberts currently resides in Berlin with her husband and two children.