Sam Roberts-Smith

Roberts-Smith was born in Perth, Western Australia, to Sue and Len Roberts-Smith. He attended Hale School,[https://www.oldhale.com/Notable-Old-Haleians/The-Arts "Notable Old Haleians – The Arts"], Hale School as did his older brother, Ben Roberts-Smith. He graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2008 where he sang in an alternating cast the role of John Proctor in the Australian premiere of Robert Ward's opera The Crucible.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-219294106/listen "Samuel Roberts-Smith interviewed by Diana Ritch"], sound recording and transcript, Trove, 18 March 2010{{rp|18:28}} He joined Opera Australia in 2009 where he made his principal debut as Moralès in Carmen in 2011. That same year Roberts-Smith joined the Opera Australia Young Artist Program{{Cite web|url=http://www.theoperablog.com/young-artist-program-a-new-generation-of-singers/|title=Young Artist Program: A new generation of singers|last=Foundry|first=The Theme|website=theoperablog.com|access-date=2019-09-19}} and subsequently the principal artist ensemble.{{Cite web|url=https://opera.org.au/artists/sam-roberts-smith|title=Sam Roberts-Smith|publisher=Opera Australia|access-date=2019-09-22}} Performed Opera Australia repertoire includes Macbeth, The Mikado, A Midsummer Nights Dream, La bohème, Lakmé, Eugene Onegin, Tosca, Manon, La traviata, Carmen, Der Rosenkavalier, La sonnambula, Les pêcheurs de perles, Madama Butterfly, La fanciulla del West, Il trovatore, The Magic Flute, Bliss, Rigoletto, and Don Giovanni.{{Cite web|url=https://chooseyourcruise.com.au/performers/sam-roberts-smith/|title=Sam Roberts-Smith – Choose Your Cruise|access-date=2019-09-21}}{{Cite web|url=http://pacificopera.com.au/news/success-stories-from-pacific-opera|title=Success Stories from Pacific Opera|publisher=Pacific Opera|access-date=2019-09-22}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.kathrynmorrisonmanagement.com/samrobertssmith|title=Artist Biography|website=Kathryn Morrison Management|access-date=2019-09-22}}{{dead link|date=May 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lyricopera.com.au/sam-roberts-smith|title=Sam Roberts-Smith|website=lyricopera.com.au|access-date=2019-09-22}}

He has won numerous Australian and international awards, including the Joan Sutherland Vocal Scholarship,[http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2016/03/an-inteview-with-sam-roberts-smith.html "An interview with Sam Roberts-Smith"], barihunks, 12 March 2016 first place in the 2009 Australian Singing Competition, Symphony Australia Young Vocalist Award,{{Cite web|url=https://dokumen.tips/documents/inside-waapa-issue-45.html|title=Inside WAAPA – Issue 45|website=dokumen.tips|access-date=2019-09-20}} Best Performance Award at the 2014 Paris Opera Awards,{{Cite web|url=https://www.pizzicato.lu/paris-opera-awards-for-six-singers/|title=Paris Opera Awards For Six Singers|date=2014-11-23|website=Pizzicato|language=fr-FR|access-date=2019-09-20}} and the inaugural Deutsche Oper Berlin Award in 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/news/sam-roberts-smith-wins-opera-gold/|title=Sam Roberts-Smith wins opera gold|author=Jo Litson|work=Limelight|date=29 August 2016|access-date=22 November 2018}}[https://www.theoperafoundation.com.au/deutsche-oper-berlin/ Recent winners – 2016], Opera Foundation for Young Australians – Deutsche Oper Berlin Award He joined The Ten Tenors from 2015 to 2017,[http://thetentenors.com/sam-roberts-smith-joins-the-ten-tenors/ "Sam Roberts-Smith joins The Ten Tenors"], thetentenors.com, 16 April 2015 and toured Australia, the US and Argentina with them.{{cite web|url=http://www.finehomesandliving.com/Interview-with-Sam-Roberts-Smith-of-The-Ten-Tenors/|title=Interview with Sam Roberts-Smith of The Ten Tenors|author=Erica Miner|work=Fine Magazine|location=San Diego|date=December 2015|access-date=22 November 2018}}

Recorded DVD performances include Remendado in Carmen for Opera Australia in their 2013 Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour by ABC Classics,[https://www.abcmusic.com.au/discography/handa-opera-sydney-harbour-%E2%80%93-georges-bizet-carmen "Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – Georges Bizet: Carmen"], recording details, ABC Classics and Der Rosenkavalier{{Cite web|url=https://newyorkarts.net/2010/11/opera-australias-der-rosenkavalier/|title=Opera Australia's Der Rosenkavalier|last=Andrew Miller|website=New York Arts|access-date=2019-09-19}} recorded live at the Sydney Opera House.

In August 2014, he was invited to sing the national anthem at the National Memorial Service for the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, held at Melbourne's St Patricks Cathedral.[https://www.news.com.au/national/nation-mourns-our-38-mh17-victims-at-national-memorial-service-at-melbournes-st-patricks-cathedral/news-story/b6ee4aaa64e2ee7ec36aa1ae0cfd3783 "Nation mourns our 38 MH17 victims at national memorial service at Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral"], Herald Sun, 7 August 2014 Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove attended the service joined by premiers and chief ministers, the public, and families of the victims.{{Cite web |date=2014-08-07 |title=Nation mourns our 38 MH17 victims |url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/nation-mourns-our-38-mh17-victims-at-national-memorial-service-at-melbournes-st-patricks-cathedral-ng-bcbe079a1771795657c7b9158bc74c23 |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=PerthNow}}

In 2015 the West Australian Opera selected Roberts-Smith as a Mentored Artist in 2015.[http://www.ampag.com.au/article/west-australian-opera-announces-2015-mentored-artists "West Australian Opera announces 2015 Mentored Artists"], Australian Major Performing Arts Group, 28 May 2015 Later that year, he toured China with the Australian International Opera Company as Count Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. On the concert stage, he sang with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Messiah.

Roberts-Smith appeared opposite Emma Matthews in 2016 as Zurga in the West Australian Opera production of Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles.[https://www.communitynews.com.au/eastern-reporter/lifestyle/baritone-sam-roberts-smith-gets-hooked-on-wa-operas-the-pearl-fishers/ "Baritone Sam Roberts-Smith gets hooked on WA Opera's The Pearl Fishers"] by Tanya MacNaughton, Eastern Reporter, Bayswater, Western Australia, 18 October 2016

For Deutsche Oper Berlin he has appeared in over a dozen productions, including La traviata opposite Leo Nucci in August 2017,{{Cite web|url=https://www.deutscheoperberlin.de/en_EN/calendar/production/la-traviata.1112955|title=La traviata – Calendar|publisher=Deutsche Oper Berlin|access-date=2019-09-20}} Il Barbiere di Siviglia in October 2017,{{Cite web|url=https://www.operabase.com/artists/sam-roberts-smith-32799/en|title=Sam Roberts-Smith, baritone|publisher=Operabase|access-date=2019-09-22}} Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in April 2018, Rigoletto in May 2018 opposite Simon Keenlyside,{{Cite web|url=http://www.simonkeenlyside.info/index.php/performances/performances-opera/rigoletto-verdi-rigoletto/2018-berlin-deutsche-oper-rigoletto/|title=2018-05, Berlin, Deutsche Oper, Rigoletto|website=simonkeenlyside.info|access-date=2019-09-19}} Il viaggio a Reims in June 2018,{{Cite web|url=http://www.deutscheoperberlin.de/en_EN/calendar/il-viaggio-a-reims.14537338|title=Il viaggio a Reims|website=deutscheoperberlin.de|language=en|access-date=2019-09-21}} and Andrea Chénier in November 2018.

In 2019, Roberts-Smith appeared in La traviata for West Australian Opera,{{Cite web|url=https://www.waopera.asn.au/show/city-of-perth-opera-in-the-park-la-traviata/|title=City of Perth Opera in the Park: La traviata|publisher=West Australian Opera|access-date=2019-09-19}} understudied the role of Judge Turpin and performed in the TEG Life Like Company's Sweeney Todd starring Anthony Warlow and Gina Riley,{{Cite web|url=http://www.stagewhispers.com.au/news/sweeney-todd-full-cast-announced|title=Sweeney Todd – Full Cast Announced|website=stagewhispers.com.au|access-date=2019-09-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://lifelikecompany.com/|title=TEG Life Like Company – Sweeney Todd starring Anthony Warlow & Gina Riley|access-date=2019-09-20}} performed Brahms' Requiem with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs,{{Cite web|url=https://sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/concerts/brahms-requiem/|title=Sydney Philharmonia Choirs {{!}} An Intimate Evening with Brahms|access-date=2019-09-20}} the title role in The Marriage of Figaro for the Australian International Productions tour of China,{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/australianinternationalproductions/posts/2864273660251220|title=Australian International Productions|website=facebook.com|access-date=2019-09-20}} and starred in Barry Conyngham's Australian opera Fly.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/opera/fly-review-an-emotional-slice-of-australian-opera-history-20190826-p52ksu.html|title=Fly review: an emotional slice of Australian opera history|last=Davies|first=Bridget|date=2019-08-26|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2019-09-20}}{{Cite web|url=http://operachaser.blogspot.com/|title=OperaChaser|website=operachaser.blogspot.com|access-date=2019-09-20}}

In October that year, Roberts-Smith performed the title character in the Australian premier of The Enchanted Pig{{Cite web|url=https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/the-enchanted-pig-gertrude-opera-yarra-valley-opera-festival/|title=★★★★☆ The Enchanted Pig (Gertrude Opera, Yarra Valley Opera Festival)|magazine=Limelight|access-date=2019-10-21}} in collaboration with internationally renowned director Gale Edwards and Academy Award winning costume designer Tim Chappel. Performances took place in the Yarra Valley in regional Victoria as part of Australia's only international opera festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-stage-show/yarra-valley-opera-festival/11602856|title=Australia's only international opera festival comes to the Yarra Valley|date=2019-10-15|website=Radio National|location=Australia|access-date=2019-10-21}}

2020 saw Roberts-Smith perform in the historic timber town of Jarrahdale at ‘Opera at the Mill’,{{Cite web|date=2020-03-02|title=Songs under the stars: Opera at the Mill returns to Jarrahdale|url=https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/6657343/songs-under-the-stars-opera-at-the-mill-returns-to-jarrahdale/|access-date=2020-08-04|website=Mandurah Mail}} a joint venture between West Australian Opera and the Shire of Serpentine. In March, Roberts-Smith travelled to São Paulo, Brazil, to again perform with The Ten Tenors.{{Cite web|title=Get ready to feel the love, Brazil! – The Ten Tenors|url=https://thetentenors.com/get-ready-to-feel-the-love-brazil/|access-date=2020-08-04|website=thetentenors.com}} Due to the global spread of COVID-19, the tour was cancelled before performances took place. In October 2020, as West Australian social distancing restrictions eased, Roberts-Smith performed the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte for West Australian Opera, the first major opera company to return to live performance with a fully staged production in Australia.{{Cite web|last=Appleby|first=Rosalind|date=2020-10-23|title=A beautiful but chilling return to live opera|url=https://www.seesawmag.com.au/2020/10/a-beautiful-but-chilling-return-to-live-opera|access-date=2020-10-25|website=Seesawmag}}

Roberts-Smith has a master's degree in Human Resource Management from Edith Cowan University{{Cite web|title=West Australian Opera - WAO Ghost Spotlight with Sam Roberts-Smith|url=https://www.waopera.asn.au/news-stories/wao-ghost-spotlight-with-sam-roberts-smith/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=West Australian Opera}} and appears on the ECU School of Business and Law's 2021 Dean's List.{{Cite web|last=Edith Cowan University|first=Perth|date=2016-04-28|title=Dean's List|url=https://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/business-and-law/our-students/competitions-and-prizes/deans-list|access-date=2021-05-09|website=ECU}}

• {{IMDb name|7837590}}
• [https://opera.org.au/artists/sam-roberts-smith Profile] at Opera Australia
• [https://www.deutscheoperberlin.de/en_EN/ensemble/124366 Profile] at Deutsche Oper Berlin {{in lang|de}}
• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0002992232|tab=credits}}

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Category:1985 births

Category:Living people

Category:Musicians from Perth, Western Australia

Category:People educated at Hale School

Category:Australian operatic baritones

Category:21st-century Australian male opera singers

Category:Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts alumni