Robert Kerns (baritone)

Robert Kerns (June 8, 1933 – February 15, 1989) was an American baritone, who was born in Detroit and died in Vienna.

Kerns studied at the University of Michigan, and made his debut in 1955 in Toledo, Ohio, as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.

He was also a regular guest at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the Salzburg Festival, where he sang notably; Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Arlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Belcore in L'elisir d'amore.

He also included a few Wagner roles such as Wolfram, Donner, and Amfortas, in which his vocal and acting abilities were put to fine effect.

Robert Kerns made relatively few recordings, the best known being Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, opposite Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti and Christa Ludwig, under Herbert von Karajan; as The King's Herald in Lohengrin (opera), opposite René Kollo, Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Siegmund Nimsgern, and as Donner in Das Rheingold under the same conductor.