About Ellen
Originally from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, soprano Ellen Robertson feels equally at home in the worlds of early music, opera, and choral singing. This spring, she graduated with a Master of Musical Arts in Early Music Voice from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, where she was a member of the Voxtet ensemble, focusing primarily on song, oratorio, vocal chamber music, and choral repertoire. During her time at Yale, she performed as a soloist in works such as Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, and Bach’s Köthener Trauermusik, and she toured throughout England and Scotland with Yale Schola Cantorum as a soloist in J. S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor under the direction of David Hill. This past December, she made her Carnegie Hall debut, singing music of Charles Ives in Weill Recital Hall as part of the Generations of Music at Yale concert series. While at Yale, she was a recipient of the Edwin Stanley Seder Scholarship and the Simon Carrington Prize in Concert Voice.
Last October, Ms. Robertson made her professional debut as an orchestral soloist, singing Dvorák’s Te Deum with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Stephen Alltop. Other professional engagements in the past year include performing as the guest soloist in the annual donors recital for the Opera Guild of Rochester, as well as joining The Crossing for their 2025 Month of Moderns concert series, the first of several upcoming engagements with the ensemble.
Ms. Robertson has participated in operatic training programs around the country and abroad, including the Young Artist Program at Finger Lakes Opera, the Apprentice Artist Program at Sarasota Opera, and La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy. Operatic roles include Mimì (La bohème) with Northwestern Opera Theatre and La Musica Lirica, Diana (Jake Heggie’s If I Were You) with Northwestern Opera Theatre, and Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice) with Eastman Opera Theatre.
In addition to her recent degree from Yale, Ms. Robertson holds a Master of Music in Voice and Opera from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music. During her time in the Chicago area, she was named a winner of the Evanston Music Club and North Shore Musicians Club Scholarship Competition, as well as an Illinois chapter winner of the NSAL Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Competition. While a student at Eastman, she was a recipient of the Renée Fleming Award.
An avid lover of choral music, Ms. Robertson has sung with ensembles such as The Crossing, the Chicago Symphony Chorus (Regular Member), and the Grant Park Festival Chorus under conductors Dr. Donald Nally, Riccardo Muti, and Christopher Bell. She looks forward to further upcoming engagements with The Crossing, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and Yale Choral Artists.
