Robert M. Getchell

began singing at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst where he studied French and Spanish literature.

He subsequently moved to France to study French baroque music at the ‘Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles’ and continued his studies with Margreet Honig at the Amsterdam Conservatory, specializing in early music interpretation with Howard Crook.

In Europe Robert Getchell is a much sought-after soloist, performing with many ensembles such as L’Orchestre des Champs-Elysées (Philippe Herreweghe), Les Talens Lyriques, Il Fondamento, Concerto Köln, Les Folies Françoises, La Stagione Frankfurt, The Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Al Ayre Español, Le Concert des Nations( Jordi Savall), and Il Fondamento and has performed the role of La Furie in Lully’s Isis with Hugo Reyne, Astolphe in Lully’s Roland, Mercure in Lully’s Persée, The Chamberlin in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, Eurimaco in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse, and the title role in Le Claire!s Scylla et Glaucus with Christophe Rousset.

In America he regularly sings with L!Opéra Lafayette conductor, Ryan Brown, performing roles such as Hyppolyte in Rameau!s Hyppolyte et Aricie, Polinice in Sacchini!s Oedipe a Colone and Renaud in Lully’s Armide (the latter two recorded by Naxos). He performed the role of Gomatz and Le Podestat in Mozart Short Cuts a staged opera by Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïf, conducted by L. Equilbey.

Robert also has a great love of folk music having spent his childhood summers in Nova Scotia. He joined White Raven in 2004 realising a longstanding desire to sing Irish traditional song.