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R O B B A N K S

@irobbanx

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{sing • coffee • loons}
What’s the next milestone? Not sure, but it’s on the horizon.

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TIME LOOP (Official Music Video) ✨🌕

Filmed in Stillwater, MN
Director/cinematographer: James Hubman @hubcap_productions
Featuring: Rob Banks & Lisa Gherardini taken in Stillwater, Minnesota by @irobbanx

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6 months ago

Coming soon to a speakeasy near you… 🌕 ✨ by @irobbanx

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6 months ago

What’s next?

It’s been a week since I closed the world premiere performances of “A Nearer Mother” and the melodies have not left me alone since. This was my first professional guest artist contact and my first leading principle role with orchestra since grad school. Among so many things that I enjoyed about my experience, at the top of the list was my focus. There aren’t many times in our lives that we get to focus (almost) exclusively on one thing, and this was one of those those times for me. It is a luxury and a privilege to have the time and context to have rehearsal, coaching, character development, exercise, and technique work as my obligation and priority. I find when I have a role, a cover, a concert, a masterclass, a solo performance of any kind… I find my mind operating the way I want it to. I just feels right. Returning to my life, work, and home feels familiar, but different now. So, what’s next? Some ensemble contracts, more voice lessons, and coachings and taking one day at a time to take each step closer to the next milestone. Be present, slow down, and just do something.

Special thanks for the last four weeks to…

Composer, @evan.mack.music
Librettist, Joshua McGuire
Conductor, @kristinconducts
Director, Copeland Woodruff
Protagonist and reason for our entire reason for gathering, Ruth Coker Burks

I love you all so very much

📷 @aus10mar10 taken in Saint Paul, Minnesota by @irobbanx

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7 months ago

TIME LOOP MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE. 🌕✨

We had an insanely good time making this video. @hubcap_productions is a dream collaborator, bringing visions to life!

Please come out and support our work at @thevelveteenspeakeasy this April!

Featuring @irobbanx aka our forever SOM Ralph ✨ and styling queen @yes_miss_lisa ✨

@dgsviolin and I will be performing, & special guest @annahagstrom09 will be kicking off the night. by @irobbanx

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7 months ago

Becoming Billy…

I got to spend an hour and a half with the matron herself, Ruth Coker Burks, and what a gift it was to spend a few moments with a woman who graciously reminds us how to be our most human selves.

I’ve spent the last several weeks getting to know who Billy was through studying Ruth’s Memoir, primary source interviews, people who lived similar experiences, learning about Stonewall, studying the text… so to have conversations with Ruth brings such a life to who I have the pleasure of portraying.

What a thrill it is to finally share this angel with an audience. Can’t wait to see you on Stage Billy 👼🏼

Composer, @evan.mack.music
Librettist, Joshua McGuire

Conductor, @kristinconducts
Director, Copeland Woodruff

@lawrenceunicon @lawrenceuni @operalawrence taken in Stansbury Theatre by @irobbanx

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7 months ago

Go back even further…

At the end of Billy’s aria, in a moment where he wrestles with the precious existence of his childhood and the full life he has grown to live out with honesty and boldness, he finds both pride and fear as he walks into a new chapter of his life.

“A Nearer Mother”
Thursday 3/5, 7:30pm
Friday 3/6, 7:30pm
Saturday 3/7, 7:30pm
Sunday 3/8, 3pm

Composer, @evan.mack.music
Librettist, Joshua McGuire

Conductor, @kristinconducts
Director, Copeland Woodruff
Pianist, Kyle Roberts taken in Stansbury Theatre by @irobbanx

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8 months ago

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY…

We world premiere a stunning new opera about Ruth Coker Burks and her work as the Cemetery Angel. A Nearer Mother tells the story of Ruth’s time spent following God into the caring of men dying of AIDS in 1980s Arkansas.

Thursday 3/5, 7:30pm
Friday 3/6, 7:30pm
Saturday 3/7, 7:30pm
Sunday 3/8, 3pm

Composer, @evan.mack.music
Librettist, Joshua McGuire

Conductor, @kristinconducts
Director, Copeland Woodruff

@lawrenceunicon @lawrenceuni taken in Stansbury Theatre by @irobbanx

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8 months ago

A tiny teaser of Laërte’s aria in rehearsal!! Come see the rest of what we’re all preparing for you THIS SUNDAY at 2pm. Minnesota Opera Center. Link to tickets in BIO.

In Thomas’s French-language adaptation of the classic Shakespeare play, Hamlet’s grief and confusion over his father’s death are interrupted by the arrival of Ophélie, who asks for reassurance of their mutual love. Ophélie’s brother, Laërte, enters to bid his sister farewell and entrusts her care to Hamlet.

Hamlet @joshe421
Ophélie @redheaded_soprano
Painist @jordan_buchholtz
Conductor @bolt.stays.on
Director @fritzietina

Special thanks to @mnopera for making their space available to us!! Truly, a special place to rehearse and perform in. taken in Minnesota Opera by @irobbanx

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8 months ago

🗣️ ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

March 6th and 8th, I will be debuting the role of BILLY in the World Premiere of “A Nearer Mother” at the Stansbury Theater with Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.

This story navigates Ruth Coker Burks advocacy and activism of the AIDS crisis and her relationship with patients in 1980’s Arkansas. Billy and Paul are owners of a drag club, who reach out to Ruth for her assistance with access to testing and getting involved in the lives of those in their community.

My first week of rehearsals have been such an amazing experience. I’ve been finding more of myself as an artist and finding more of BILLY, thanks to the amazing students in rehearsal, my coachings with Kristin, and sessions with Copeland. I’m looking forward so much to seeing how everything continues to develop over the coming weeks!!

Composer, @evan.mack.music
Librettist, Joshua McGuire
Conductor, @kristinconducts
Director, Copeland Woodruff

📷 @carterdanderson taken in Appleton, Wisconsin by @irobbanx

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8 months ago

MEET THE CAST OF "VOICES IN MOTION: OPERA SCENES"
🎶: Robert Banks (Spoletta, "Tosca") (Laerte, "Hamlet")
🎟️: https://tinyurl.com/OperaScenesORP
🗓️: Sunday, February 22, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
📍: Minnesota Opera Center, 620 N 1st St.

Tenor Robert P. Banks is a versatile singing actor, equally at home on the operatic and musical theater stages. He is also familiar with performing new works like "Silent Night," "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs," and "Dead Man Walking" with The Atlanta Opera, and participating in Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative. He also spent six years with The Atlanta Opera as an ensemble member and featured soloist. His recent musical theater credits include Gabriel in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (Teatro del Pueblo), Rolf Gruber in "The Sound of Music" (Frosted Glass Creative), and Almanzo Wilder in "Little House on the Prairie" (Frosted Glass Creative). He has also sung with the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company as The Duke of Dunstable in "Patience," and returned with a series of performances at The Minnesota State Fair. Before transitioning to tenor, Banks trained as a Baritone at Berry College and The University of Minnesota Duluth. The roles he performed include Papageno in "The Magic Flute," Lord Enrico Ashton in "Lucia di Lammermoor," Dr. Falke in "Die Fledermaus," Frank Maurrant in "Street Scene," Pirate King in "The Pirates of Penzance," and Vicomte Cascada in "Die Lustige Witwe." by @irobbanx

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8 months ago

Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more
through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow
Hang a shining star above the highest bow
and have yourself a merry little Christmas now taken in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina by @irobbanx

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10 months ago

💫The show is closed and the reviews are in💫

My body is so tired but my soul is grateful. My performance career has been almost exclusively fixed to opera for the past decade, but for the past year and a half I’ve expanded my resume to other forms of engaging my singing and acting joys. I love it. Here’s to much more theater in all the ways I can experience it. I already miss all the wonderful people I got to collaborate with… see you all soon!!

Thank you, Arthur Dorman, for the kind words in your @talkinbroadway review🙏🏼

📸 @heymollyjay taken in The Southern Theater by @irobbanx

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a year ago