Barbara Joyce Robotham (15 January 1936 – 1 July 2013) was an English mezzo-soprano opera singer and concert soloist who later became a distinguished voice teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music.
The daughter of a Fylde Coast heating engineer, Robotham was born and raised in Blackpool where she was educated at the Collegiate School for Girls.
Her early performances included Handel's Alcina in Lisbon, Brahms' Rhapsodie conducted by Malcolm Sargent at the BBC Proms, Britten's Abraham and Isaac at Aldeburgh, the Verdi Requiem, and the Angel in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius.
[1][2][3][4] In the early 1970s, after her election as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Manchester College of Music and having sung in over 100 performances and broadcasts in the UK and Europe, Robotham turned to teaching which she considered her true vocation.
In 1974 she became a voice professor at Lancaster University, and in 1979 she joined the faculty of the Royal Northern College of Music.