Deborah Roberts (soprano)

Roberts joined the Tallis Scholars in 1977. She was known for singing the soprano solo line in Allegri's Miserere with its high Cs, recording the part for the choir's 1980 and 2007 albums.^[7][8] She also sang it at the Sistine Chapel for the unveiling of Rosselli's Last Supper.^[9] She appeared in over 1,200 concerts with Tallis Scholars and sang on over 60 recordings with the groups.^[10]

Together with Tessa Bonner, Roberts co-founded Musica Secreta, a vocal group dedicated to the music of "early modern women" in 1991.^[11][12] The group released nine albums, including Dangerous Graces (2002), Sacred Hearts, Secret Music (2009)^[13] and Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter (2016).^[3][14]

As well as the Tallis Scholars, Roberts performed with many other ensembles including The Consort of Musicke, The English Concert, London Baroque, the Deller Consort,^[4] the Taverner Choir,^[15] and The King's Consort.^[16]

Roberts became director of the Brighton Consort in 1998.^[4] She co-founded the Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF) with Clare Norburn in 2002.^[17] Through BREMF she also created several new ensembles: BREMF Consort of Voices,^[18] Celestial Sirens, BREMF Community Choir and the BREMF Players. Notable productions included 1589 Florentine Intermedi (2012), Feast of ols (2019), The Whispering Dome (2020) and La Liberazione di Ruggiero (2022).^[19]