Biography
Renowned for his teaching, Robin Rice has served as a master teacher with Utah's Young Artist Apprentice Program, the San Diego Opera Ensemble, the Florida Grand Opera's Young Artist Apprentice Program, the Nightingale Opera Theatre Young Artists program, the Pensacola Opera AIRS program and the Indianapolis Opera Resident Artists program. Rice has also taught at many prestigious summer programs, including the Amalfi Coast Music Program in Vietri sul Mare, Italy, the International Asian Opera Workshop in Taipei, Taiwan, the International Asian Opera Project in Kunming, China, the Up North Vocal Institute in Boyne City, Michigan, and the International Opera Festival in Beijing.
Rice teaches master classes worldwide. He has previously given classes at Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Castellina in Chianti Vocal Workshop in Tuscany, Italy; the Cullasaja Vocal Workshop in North Carolina; the University of Colorado at Boulder; Rice University; Saint Mary's College of Notre Dame; and Baylor University. He has also given a series of master classes in Taiwan and appeared as a master teacher in Kunming, China, and at Beijing University.
His students have performed leading roles in major international opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, OpéraThéâtre de Limoges, Teatro Dell’Opera Roma, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Firenze’s Teatro del Maggio Musicale, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Swedish Opera Stockholm, Kyrenia Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Sarasota Opera, San Diego Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Florida Grand Opera, New Orleans Opera, Ft. Worth Opera, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera and more. Many of his students have won prestigious national and international competitions and/or have appeared in renowned apprentice programs, including Santa Fe, San Francisco, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Glimmerglass, The Academy of Vocal Arts and Wolf Trap.
Rice received his Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has worked with many luminaries, such as Alberta Masiello, Theodore Uppmann, Barbara Honn, John Spong, Richard Hughes, Joyce Farwell and Kenneth Griffiths.
Rice lives in the greater Houston, Texas area where he is a Professor of Voice and Chair of the Voice Area at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. In the summers, he teaches at the Aspen Music Festival.
Rice's book, "Great Teachers on Great Singing," was published in 2017.