Robert sings in Beethoven's 9th Symphony - featured in THE CLASSICAL STYLE on Saturday 6 July.
Born in Australia and raised in Dunedin, baritone Robert Tucker completed a Bachelor of Music at the University of Otago and spent time living in Australia and the UK before returning home to New Zealand in 2012 where he continues to work on the stage, in the concert hall, as a singing teacher and a choral conductor.
Since returning to New Zealand Robert has worked extensively with New Zealand Opera. Some highlights have been playing Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Schaunard in La bohème, Noah in three different productions of Noah’s Flood for the Benjamin Britten centenary celebrations in 2013 and King George in Eight Songs for a Mad King by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies which was received with great critical success at the New Zealand International Arts Festival and the Auckland Arts Festival.
A passion of Robert’s is bringing new composition to life. These have included characters in the operas Brass Poppies by Ross Harris and Hōhepa by Jenny McLeod with New Zealand Opera and The God Boy by Anthony Ritchie with Opera Otago. Highlights also include orchestral works The Journey Home by John Drummond with The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and In Paradisum by Kenneth Young with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2015 Robert commissioned the song cycle Whispers of Gallipoli by Anthony Ritchie to commemorate the landings at Gallipoli 100 years earlier. Robert’s most recent performance was in RED!, a new children’s opera by Lucy Mulgan based around the story of Little Red Riding Hood. He played Wolfie (the big bad wolf) and shared the stage with over 300 energetic primary school children enjoying bringing opera to life.
