George Robarts is the winner of the 2025 Lotte Lenya Competition.

He was awarded First Prize by the Kurt Weill Foundation for a programme of operetta and musical theatre from G&S to Sondheim, earning plaudits for his “phenomenal acting”, “impeccable delivery”, and a “near-perfect” interpretation of Kurt Weill.

A stand-out performer of English operatic repertoire, George debuts with English Touring Opera in spring 2026 as Luiz in The Gondoliers. Upon graduation from the Guildhall in 2023, he starred in The Fairy Queen at Longborough, in a singer-actor multi-role as the Drunken Poet and Bottom. He has since covered Starveling A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Garsington and played Junius The Rape of Lucretia for British Youth Opera, Samuel The Pirates of Penzance for the National G&S Company, and Noye Noye’s Fludde with a 300-strong children’s chorus at St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

He has performed Mozart in English as Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro and Leporello Don Giovanni for Cumbria Opera. Other roles include Commissario and Barone Douphol (cover) La traviata for the Grange Festival, Claudio Agrippina for Hampstead Garden Opera, and Zweiter Diener Capriccio for the Edinburgh International Festival.

With a gift for rapid-fire text and a “great penchant for comedy” (Opera Scene), George has carved out a niche in cabaret alongside his classical work, performing Noël Coward in concert alongside Dame Felicity Lott and Graham Johnson, and devising original performances around the music of 1920s Berlin.

George is an accomplished linguist and professional translator. His debut opera translation The Revolting Maid (from Pergolesi’s La serva padrona) won the 2024 John Dryden Translation Prize and was premiered in London in 2025 thanks to a generous funding grant from the City Music Foundation.

On the recital platform, George debuted alongside Graham Johnson at the Leeds Song Festival in 2023, performing Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin on the cycle’s 200th anniversary. In 2025 he rejoins Johnson for ‘Schubert in 1825’ at the Oxford International Song Festival, and makes his full recital debut there with a programme of Folk Songs from the British Isles alongside pianist Thomas Eeckhout. Other recital highlights this year include a semi-staged performance of Roxanna Panufnik’s cycle Private Joe (2000) alongside the Kyan Quartet at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

In September 2025 he and pianist Edward Picton-Turbervill reached the finals of the 58th International Vocal Competition ’s-Hertogenbosch, in its inaugural “Theatre in Song” edition. Their light-hearted programme The Gentle Art of Tramping won the junior jury prize, with commendations for their “brilliant interplay, musical and comedic timing, and their ability to intertwine humour with melancholy”.

George’s solo concert engagements in 2024–25 included Five Mystical Songs at Smith Square, Petite Messe Solennelle at the Edinburgh International Festival, Elijah at Godalming, The Creation at Chipping Campden, Christmas Oratorio at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Messiah at the Mayfield Festival.

A fluent German and Italian speaker, he read Modern Languages at Oxford University, graduating with First-Class Honours in 2017. He has literary, academic and commercial book publications to his name, as well as an award-winning opera libretto and three placings in major translation prizes.

“Phenomenal actor…
every moment spontaneous…
impeccable delivery of lyrics”
Kurt Weill Foundation: Lotte Lenya Prize

“George Robarts deserves special praise for his lanky, delightful Bottom”
★★★★★
Plays to See: The Fairy Queen

“George Robarts brought a commanding intensity to his portrayal of Jesus”
Daily Info: St Matthew Passion,
Dorchester Abbey

George has an extensive recital repertoire, and while at Guildhall was awarded the Paul Hamburger Song Prize by Graham Johnson. His 2025 recital highlights include Chansons gaillardes and Don Quichotte à Dulcinée in Cambridge, and Six Songs from a Shropshire Lad in London and Oxford.

He takes a special interest in the music of the Weimar Republic, championing the songs of Hanns Eisler and Viktor Ullmann. He has created several performances of song and poetry from the German anti-fascist resistance at venues including Oxford’s Levine Auditorium.

In concert, George’s nuanced command of German has won praise for his Bach interpretations, performing Pilate St John Passion at St Bartholomew’s, New York City (New College, Oxford / English Concert Players), and Jesus St Matthew Passion at various UK venues. His concert repertoire encompasses solo Bach and Telemann cantatas, Handel oratorios, Requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Fauré and Duruflé, and modern oratorio from Michael Tippett to Margaret Bonds.

He has worked on outreach projects with Longborough Youth Chorus, Longborough Playground Opera, Garsington OperaFirst, the Oxford Song educational programme, and Opera Holland Park: Inspire.

During his studies, he was fortunate to sing in masterclasses with Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Emma Kirkby, John Mark Ainsley, Graham Vick, Donald Maxwell, Christopher Purves, Roderick Williams, Richard Hetherington and David Gowland, and to be coached in performance projects by Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Alison Buchanan and Roderick Williams.

George has translated several books on music, including Diedrich Diederichsen’s Aesthetics of Pop Music (Polity Press, 2023) and Jenny Haase’s essays on Schubert’s Winterreise for German Romanticism and Latin America (MHRA, 2023).

Biography not to be reproduced without prior permission. Please contact George for an up-to-date version.

Cover image: Christopher Tribble, 2023

Home page image: Julian Guidera, 2024