Hailed by Opera News as “a booming, well-crafted bass,” Chinese-American singer Robert Ellsworth Feng is a born collaborator who creates powerful performances.
Performance highlights include Colline (La bohème), Papa (An American Dream), Betto di Signa (Gianni Schicchi ), Ben Weatherstaff in Nolan Gasser's The Secret Garden, Pirate King (The Pirates of Penzance), Bonze/Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Paola Prestini’s Sensorium Ex, Bertram (Robert le Diable), Mad Hatter/Frog Footman/Card #7 (The Garden of Alice), Frère Laurent (Roméo et Juliette), Constable/Russian Solo (Fiddler on the Roof), the cover of Archbishop Sejas in Daniel Crozier’s With Blood, With Ink, Rev. Joseph Twichell in the world premiere of Robert Carland Russell Banks’ Harmony, Padre Antonio (Juana), Il Tempo (Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), Rochefort (Anna Bolena ), Nourabad (Les pêcheurs de perles), Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni), and Khan Konchak (Prince Igor ). Concert credits include Bass Soloist in Mozart's Requiem and Dichterliebe.
Not limited to performing standard repertoire, Feng remains active in premiering and performing works by living composers. These include the aforementioned Harmony and Sensorium Ex, Yunfei Li’s Chew On This (Shou Zi Chew) with Lyric Opera of Kansas City/No Divide KC, Felix Jarrar's You do not recognize the bodies in the water (Body/Interviewer) at OPERA America, and Tony Small’s Qadar (Detective/Body Guard) with the Smithsonian Museum.
Robert placed first in the Dorothy Lincoln Smith Regional Voice Competition, first in the Mozart International Competition Vienna, second in the NY Classical Music Society International Voice Competition, third in the Beethoven Club of Memphis Savell Competition, third in the Lyra Mozart International Voice Competition, and third in the Opera for Earth Vocal Competition. Robert is also the recipient of the MI Opera Role Award, Seagle Festival Guild Scholarship, the George Woodhead Prize in Voice, and the Peabody Career Development Award.
For the 2024-25 season, Robert will join Opera Memphis as a Handorf Company Artist where he will perform in their 30 Days of Opera concert series, the Mozart Requiem (Bass Soloist), The Rake’s Progress (Nick Shadow), Carmen (Zuniga), and the world premiere of Robert Patterson’s Pretty Little Room (The Doctor). Robert holds degrees from Peabody Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music.
