Casey Robards, pianist

Casey Robards

Pianist

Korean  adoptee, Casey Robards (Ahn SuhJung) is a music director, pianist and vocal coach known for her sensitive musicality, expert collaborative skill, stylistic versatility and expressive conducting. A sought after collaborative partner, she has given recitals throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South America and Asia. She has been dedicated to the performance, research and promotion of music by Black composers and writers for nearly three decades, with a focus on the Negro spiritual as well as places of intersection between gospel, jazz and classical music. Her latest CD release is a project of art song settings of the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar with baritone Kenneth Overton.  Recent and upcoming recital collaborations include programs with Overton, Karen Slack, Latoya Lain, Ollie Watts Davis, Henry Pleas, Philip Phillips, Angelique Clay and Colin Levin.

Robards is Music Director of Ensemble Concert 21, a chamber group devoted to the performance of contemporary music and the mentorship of young and emerging composers. In 2024-2025, Robards will conduct productions with Indianapolis Opera, Opera Columbus, El Paso Opera, and Soo Opera. She has worked as repetiteur for Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Opera, and Kentucky Opera, and has conducted Three Decembers, The Scarf (South Bend Lyric Opera); Die Zauberflöte, La Bohème, La Traviata, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica (Bay View, Michigan), Carmen (Wichita, Kansas) and Water Riot in Beta: A Cyberpunk Rock Opera (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago).

Dr. Robards is the foremost expert on John D. Carter, the subject of her dissertation. Her faculty affiliations include University of Illinois (current), Indiana University, Oberlin Conservatory, Central Michigan University, and Bay View Music Festival. She received the Henri Kohn Memorial Award for outstanding achievement at Tanglewood Music Festival. Robards chairs the Sacred in Opera Initiative for the National Opera Association. She frequently performs in a piano duo with her husband, pianist/composer, Anthony Patterson