Soprano excited to showcase classical side
Robyn Perry’s representing P.E.I. at national music festival next month
Music has always been a big part of Robyn Perry’s life.
Her parents first enrolled her in piano lessons when she was just three years of age.
She was 11 or 12 when she started taking vocal lessons, and she’s been taking classical training since she was 15.
“I don’t think I’ve ever looked back. I’ve never had another career path in mind. From the moment I think I started thinking about what I wanted to do when I was older, it was always music,” said Perry who now lives in Moncton where she performs in operas as part of music education program at Université de Moncton. The 20-year-old daughter of Leona and Bobby Perry of Deblois, will enter fourth year studies in Moncton in the fall.
Despite her classical studies, Perry admits West Prince audiences are more familiar with her as a fiddler and dinner theatre performer.
In a phone interview this week, Perry acknowledged she was looking forward to recitals with organist Leo Marchildon Tuesday at 7 p.m. at St. Simon and St. Jude Church in Tignish and Wednesday at 1 p.m. at St. Dunstan’s Basillica in Charlottetown. Antoinette Perry, who has been organizing organ recitals at the Tignish church for years, helped organize the two recitals this week.
Robyn is thrilled to be part of them, as Antoinette Perry was her first voice teacher.
“She was really excited this year to ask me to come back and perform in P.E.I.,” said the soprano.
The recitals are opportunities to present classical works from her repertoire, including ones she will perform next month in Ottawa, at the Kiwanis National Music Festival. She was selected to represent P.E.I. following performances at the Queens County and P.E.I. Music Festivals in May.
She’s performed in the West Prince Music Festivals since she was eight, but this year her schedule did not permit her to attend. She participated in the Queens County festival instead.
She’s following her professors’ and music teachers’ advice in getting in as many performances as possible before the nationals and relishing the opportunity to make a reintroduction.
“It’s really a beautiful form of art,” she said in describing opera. “I think the people who are open to receiving something like that will be really pleasantly surprised.” At university she has been involved in full operatic performances.
“It’s kind of that combination of theatre and music that I’ve always really liked about the dinner theatres,” she said. “It’s kind of filling that gap.”