Icelandic bass Andri Björn Róbertsson is based in the UK. He is much in demand on both the concert platform and the operatic stage. Recent highlights have included his return to Opera North as Speaker and cover Sarastro in The Magic Flute and as Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Andri has a close relationship with Glyndebourne Festival Opera- he made his Festival debut jumping in for performances as First Priest and Second Man in Armour in Die Zauberflöte. Other roles include Quince (cover) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the title role (cover) in Saul.
Recent important debuts include Leporello in Don Giovanni for Kilden Opera, his Opera North debut in Sir David Pountney’s new production of Masque of Might as Nebulous /Activist/ Wolf, and his debut with the Orchestre de Paris in a return to the role of Witness 3 and Madman in George’s Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence. In previous seasons, Andri appeared at the Staatsoper Hamburg and Opéra National de Lyon with Lessons in Love and Violence singing the same roles. This followed his house debut at the Royal Ballet & Opera in the world premiere of the same production.
Highlights elsewhere include Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro for his native Icelandic Opera, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Nevill Holt Opera, Angelotti in a semi-staged concert performance of Tosca opposite Kristine Opolais and Sir Bryn Terfel at the International Musical Eisteddfod with the orchestra of Welsh National Opera and Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring at The Grange Festival.
Andri is also a sought-after recitalist and has performed at the Oxford Lieder Festival, Icelandic Opera in Reykjavik, Festival d’Aix en Provence and Opéra de Lille as well as at Salurinn, Kópavogur, Iceland. His debut recital disc was released on the Fuga Libera label and features songs by Icelandic composer Árni Thorsteinson and Schumann Lieder.
Andri was a member of the International Opera Studio at Zürich Opera and is a former English National Opera Harewood Artist. He made his ENO debut as Angelotti in Tosca; other roles for ENO include Ceprano in Rigoletto and Basilio (cover) in The Barber of Seville, Lord Krishna in Satyagraha and Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Andri was nominated Singer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2022 and 2023 and is a former semi-finalist of the Queen Sonja International Music Competition. He studied at the Reykjavik Academy of Singing and Vocal Arts in his native Iceland, the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio, London. He gratefully acknowledges Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and her Foundation who provided him with significant mentoring and financial support. Andri is also grateful to the Behrens Foundation who sponsored his engagement as a Harewood Artist at ENO. Andri is a Samling Artist and a Georg Solti Accademia Scholar.
July 2025
