Janine Roebuck

Janine Roebuck is a mezzo-soprano who was equally at home in opera, operetta, oratorio and popular song and particularly good in roles which require a touch of comedy.

She is a bilateral cochlear implant recipient, when speech perception in her right ear alone went from 4% to 92%in just 3 months!

Talk: “Soprano with a Secret”

Informative, moving and hilarious; if you love music and the theatre, or if you or anyone you love has a hearing loss – this is a talk for you.

When Janine was told at the age of eighteen that she was going deaf, many people told her she would have to give up her dreams. Instead she decided to keep her disability a secret. She went on to become successful in both opera and musical theatre.

She managed to keep her disability a secret for over thirty years, before finally deciding to go public. She now gives inspirational talks on coping with hearing loss – how she followed her dreams and with a positive outlook on life how she achieved her goals.

Janine made her debut with New Sadlers Wells Opera, and has sung principal roles with all the major houses in the UK. As well as opera she sings musical theatre and is best known for her comedy roles.

Her engagements have included singing the role of Carmen as well as performing in Scrooge, The Sound of Music, Gilbert and Sullivan operas and many others. She has recorded The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Best of Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Gilbert and Sullivan and many popular classics.

Improvements in technology are such that Janine’s used hearing aids with Bluetooth short range wireless connectivity which helped her perform at her peak. She decided it is time to be proud, not ashamed, and, with support from Action on Hearing Loss (formerly the RNID), she went public as the only deaf mezzo-soprano in the world! Janine was a Trustee of Action on Hearing Loss (now an Ambassador) and Patron of Auditory Verbal UK which teaches profoundly deaf babies & children to listen and speak wonderfully.

Over the years she’d confided in colleagues she could trust and inevitably word spread. Responses have varied from astonishment to admiration. One conductor told his orchestra she was deaf only after they’d heard her sing. Their standing ovation is the reaction she treasures the most.

The Champion Award was presented to Janine in 2009, and she was given a coveted place on The Independent ‘Happy List’ in 2010.

In 2019 Janine took the life changing decision to have bilateral Cochlear Implants – making her a bionic woman!

You can watch Janine talking about coping with hearing loss and singing on this link: Oticon Hearing Aid Testimonial

Testimonials

I have received so many wonderful compliments about our luncheon. Everyone I spoke to said that Janine was the best speaker we have ever had! Please thank Janine again on behalf of all the team at Tylney Hall for making this ladies luncheon a great success.
Janine Roebuck’s after dinner speech was simply wonderful, because it had everything that a good speech should have. She is incredibly witty and had us all in stitches. Janine is also fantastically moving in the way that she tells us about her life, but what I took away mainly was how inspirational she is, and how nothing has been too big an obstacle in her life. I have hosted hundreds of events in the past few years and I have never been so moved in so many ways during a 15 minute address. I could listen to it time and time again, and singing was excellent as well! Wynne Evans, aka ‘Gio Compare – the Tenor from the Go Compare ads.
Janine is a warm and engaging speaker with a twinkling smile whose story is an extraordinary one. Her presentation captivated our audience of young women who were mesmerized by her. Clarissa Farr, High Mistress of St Paul’s Girls’ School – Hammersmith
Janine was presented with The Champion Award in 2009 for her outstanding musical artistry; for making her talent available to a wide international audience; and for her clear demonstration that there are no limitations to what can be achieved if an artist has outstanding ability, passion, and sheer determination. She sang Puccini’s O Mio Babbino Caro at the AMI Awards 2009 (Ability Media International
Thank you so very much for your incredible talk, it was without doubt one of the best I’ve heard and so powerful. You struck a beautiful balance of sharing lived experience punctuated with humour and some very hard-hitting facts for us all to consider. Everyone who was there was in awe of it! Allianz Commercial
I have rarely met anyone so warm, generous and inspiring – and life-affirming in your example of how one can triumph over adversity with your positive attitude. Quite apart from all the inspiration and encouragement you gave to the many hearing-impaired members of our audience, you gave those of us lucky enough to have good hearing, huge insight into your world. I know that I, at least, will be a better teacher and supporter of pupils and friends with their hearing difficulties, from now on. Canto Song and Voice School (photograph by Katie Thomas)