Robert Francis Orbach
b.1992
Currently: New York, NY
Hometown: Selden, NY
A New York native, Countertenor Robert Francis Orbach has been featured in both concerts and opera throughout Europe and North America.
Robert is currently a Company Artist with Moon River Opera. Recent performances included Improv Opera V with Moon River Opera, the Chorus of City Lyric Opera’s production of La Traviata, a return to MuSE with Vivaldi’s Gloria, First Alto in The Bird Lady with Opera Avant Inc., Handel’s Messiah at Northminster Church in Monroe, LA, the premiere of Nathan Felix’s opera La Malinche as Hernan Cortes with NYC Opera Collective, and the premiere of Eimi Tanaka’s Songs for the Restless with Pitches Brew. In 2021 he was named a Semi-Finalist in both The Premiere Opera Foundation International Voice Competition and The Century Opera Voice Competition.
He began 2020 by receiving an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Councils in Buffalo, NY, was named a Finalist for the National Society of Arts and Letters Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Awards in Washington D.C., and performed as a featured soloist with the Underground Salon in New York, NY. As the world was put on pause, Robert joined Derek Cooper’s “The Miniatures Project” — Vol. 1 Puzzles and premiered II. Sky Writing. “The Miniatures Project“ is a collection of short pieces, specifically composed for individual musicians from around the world. The culminating project is a performance of all 30 miniatures interwoven to create a single piece, signifying that while we’re alone, our actions our art form, and we as artists remain connected. To listen head to "The Miniatures Project" by Derek Cooper. Robert was selected to be a part of Fort Worth Opera’s Virtual Audition Panel with Jennifer Rowley.
Robert in 2019 was highlighted with his work as a Guest Clinician with the Silvern Voice Institute in St. John’s Newfoundland & Labrador Canada, as a Fellow with the CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, and with the debut of Yui Kitamura’s new piece Mount Fuji ~Eternal Prayer~ in Japanese with Multicultural Sonic Evolution (MuSE). In the fall he curated a benefit recital for Education Through Music (ETM) to raise money and towards running the NYC Marathon. Robert ended 2019 by being named a Semifinalist in the MIOpera 2019 Vocal Competition.
In 2018, Robert was featured in performances as Nerone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre and ended with a concert with MuSE: Voices in Harmony IV.
His past operatic roles and scene work include: Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Serses (Serses), Tolomeo (Tolomeo in Egitto), Giulio Cesare (Giulio Cesare in Egitto), First Angel/Boy (Written on Skin), Oscar Wilde (Oscar), Raphael (Tobias and the Angel), Refugee (Flight), and Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). His concert credits include: Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, as well as performances with MuSE and a premiere of Derek Cooper’s song cycle Survivor in which Robert wrote the text. Notably, Mr. Orbach has performed as a Young Artist with the Montefeltro Festival with Classical Lyric Arts and the Tuscia Opera Festival with the International Lyric Academy.
Mr. Orbach received a Bachelor of Music in Music Education with a concentration in Special Education, cum laude, from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. He currently has a growing studio of young singers. When not singing Robert can be found petting the nearest dog with an iced coffee in hand.
