Honorary Degrees
2025
Elin Rombo (D. Mus.)
Elin Rombo has been a frequent guest at the Royal Swedish Opera where her appearances include a wide range of roles; Gilda in Rigoletto, Violetta in La Traviata and Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cunégonde in Bernstein’s Candide, Régine Saint Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s opera Prima Donna, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Hanna Glawari in Die Lustige Witwe, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Agnès in Written on Skin, Roxana in King Roger, Blanche in Dialogues des Carmélites, Mimì and Musetta in La Bohème, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and the young Batsheba in the world premiere of Sven-David Sandström’s Batsheba.
Elin Rombo has previously been a guest at the Opéra National de Paris, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Dutch National Opera, and Teatr Wielki in Warsaw.
Elin Rombo made her Salzburg Festival debut in the summer of 2009, singing 1st soprano in Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore.
Amongst other roles she has sung Timante in Floridante at the Handel Festival in Halle, Zerlinain Don Giovanni with the Mattei Festival in Sweden, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding and she appeared in the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Dionysus in Salzburg and Staatsoper Berlin. Her roles at the Frankfurt Opera have included Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims.
Elin Rombo has a broad concert repertoire and has appeared with several of the world's most prominent orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem/Riccardo Muti), Orchestre de Paris (Schubert's Mass No 2 in G major, Mozart's Requiem/Sir Colin Davis/Festival de Saint-Denis), Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and the major Nordic orchestras.
Elin Rombo studied at the Brandon University Queen Elisabeth II in Canada, graduating in 1998 and the University College of Opera in Stockholm, where she graduated in 2003. Already during her studies she made her debut as Christa in The Makropoulos Case at the Royal Swedish Opera. Elin was appointed Court Singer in 2013 and in 2016 she was awarded the medal Litteris et Artibus by H.M. the Swedish King. This May 2025, Elin Rombo was awarded the Medal of S:t Erik by the municipal government of Stockholm “for her activities and contributions that are considered deserved of such award”.
Tom Allen (D. Mus.)
Tom Allen was born in Montreal. He worked as a bass trombonist in New York City when there were still places you just didn’t go, toured with the Great Lakes Brass and began working for the CBC on his 30th birthday, a very long time ago. He has written books, created and hosted countless shows for theatre companies and orchestras, as well as touring a series of chamber musicals that includes The Missing Pages, Being Lost and JS Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow. His latest project is an 18th century-style Classical Musick Almanack, being created with illustrator Ian Bell, built on gossip, smut, steampunk technology and, within certain limitations, history. He can’t imagine there’s anything else you’d like to know, but if there is you could visit his website, www.tomtomallen.com.
I was born in Montreal and went to school there, at Marianapolis College and McGill, before finishing degrees at Boston University and Yale. I worked as a bass trombonist in New York City when there were still places you just didn’t go, then in Toronto and on tour with the Great Lakes Brass. I began working for the CBC on my 30th birthday, a very long time ago, and at the time of writing I still am. I have since written three books, been a Resident Artist with Soulpepper Theatre, delivered storytelling workshops at various University music programs and at the Banff Centre, been named an honourary Doctor of Letters by Thompson Rivers University, hosted countless concerts across the country and written a series of cabaret storytelling shows we call Chamber Musicals, including From Weimar to Vaudeville, The Missing Pages, A Poe Cabaret, Being Lost and the latest: JS Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow.
I live in Toronto with my beloved, the harpist Lori Gemmell, our son, and a very enthusiastic dog.