Janine Roebuck is a mezzo-soprano equally at home in opera, operetta, oratorio and popular song and is particularly good in roles which require a touch of comedy.

However when she was told at the age of eighteen that she was going deaf, many people told her she would have to give up her dreams. Instead she decided to keep her disability a secret. She went on to become successful in both opera and musical theatre.

She managed to keep her disability a secret for over thirty years, before finally deciding to go public.

Janine made her debut with New Sadlers Wells Opera, and has sung principal roles with all the major houses in the UK. As well as opera she sings musical theatre and is best known for her comedy roles. She was a regular guest on Friday Night is Music Night on BBC Radio 2 and has worked regularly with Richard Baker on Classical Music cruises.

She has devised her own one-woman show entitled This Thing Called Love, and written and performs a show about the life and works of Joyce Grenfell entitled Stately as a Galleon.

Recent engagements included singing the role of Carmen in the Middle and Far East, as well as performing in Scrooge, The Sound of Music, Gilbert and Sullivan operas and many others. She has recorded The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Best of Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Gilbert and Sullivan and many popular classics.

Improvements in technology are such that Janine’s latest hearing aids are wireless which helps her perform at her peak. She continues to tour the world, perform on radio and TV, and record. She has decided it is time to be proud, not ashamed, and, with support from the RNID, she went public as the only deaf mezzo-soprano in the world!

Over the years she’d confided in colleagues she could trust and inevitably word spread. Responses have varied from astonishment to admiration. One conductor told his orchestra she was deaf only after they’d heard her sing. Their standing ovation is the reaction she treasures the most.

The Champion Award was presented to Janine in 2009, and she was given a coveted place on The Independent ‘Happy List’ in 2010.

Janine delivers a thoroughly entertaining after dinner speech and is an inspiring motivational speaker.

Testimonials:

“Janine Roebuck’s mezzo soprano is perfectly controlled by an assured technique, and is the expression of a highly cultivated musical and artistic sense of style.”
Daily Telegraph

“ ….the audience accepted the shaving, swaggering, sabre-bearing mezzo soprano Janine Roebuck with pleasure. Wasted on minor parts in the New Sadler’s Wells Opera’s seasons, her full-toned, wide-ranging voice was combined here with a winning charm of manner. Her top A was more secure than that of her soprano partner.”
Opera Magazine

Janine has an entry in The Independent on Sunday “Happy List” for 2010 as one of 100 people who make Britain a better and a happier place to live.

Janine was presented with The Champion Award in 2009 for her outstanding musical artistry; for making her talent available to a wide international audience; and for her clear demonstration that there are no limitations to what can be achieved if an artist has outstanding ability, passion, and sheer determination. She sang Puccini’s O Mio Bambino Caro at the AMI Awards 2009 (Ability Media International).