Robin Bier, Voice

Praised for her “inimitable, resonant contralto” (Phindie), “particularly moving singing” (Cleveland Classical), and “mysterious, dark hue and sauntering presence” (San Franciso Classical Voice), Robin Bier enjoys a varied career of solo and ensemble singing with an emphasis on early music and oratorio repertoire.

Robin is co-founder and co-director of solo-voice early music ensemble Les Canards Chantants, with whom she has collaborated with ACRONYM, Parthenia Viol Consort, Pellingman’s Saraband, and the Folger Consort, and performed in venues as diverse as Poole’s Cavern and Washington National Cathedral. The ensemble has gained a reputation for theatrically daring presentation of renaissance polyphony, and garnered praise for ‘elegant vocalism’ (Philadelphia Inquirer), ‘finely tuned vocals, robust singing, emotional flexibility, and sense of adventure’ (Broad Street Review), ‘brilliant and moving programming’ (Early Music America), and ‘liveliness and theatricality’ (Boston Musical Intelligencer).

Originally from Alaska, Robin attended the Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, where she entered as a pianist and departed as a singer with bachelor’s degrees in voice performance and environmental studies. She later earned her masters in solo-voice ensemble singing and PhD in Musicology from the University of York in England.  Robin is now based in Philadelphia, where she teaches studio voice at Swarthmore College, coaches the Choristers at Bryn Athyn Cathedral.