On Sept. 9, 1924, Soprano Deborah Roberts died at the age of 72.

Born on May 10, 1952, in London, England, Roberts studied at Lady Edridge Grammar School in Croydon and the University of Leicester. He also studied at Nottingham University and in 1981 she was a prize winner in the early music competition in Bruges.

After her studies, Roberts sang in various professional early music ensembles ad also taught and conducted. She became fascinated with Renaissance and early Baroque music and from 1978 to 2008, she sang with The Tallis Scholars, with whom she appeared in over 1,200 concerts around the world and on more than 60 recordings.

Roberts also made solo appearances with the Consort of Musicke, the Deller Consort, Parley of Instruments, London Baroque, and The English Concert.

In 1990, Roberts founded Musica Secreta, an ensemble of female voices and continuo. Under Roberts’ direction the ensemble gained recognition, and in 1996 was given the prestigious American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award. The ensemble recorded such albums as “Dangerous Graces,” and “Sacred Hearts, Secret Music.”

In 2002 Roberts founded the Brighton Early Music Festival which became one of the largest and most progressive early music festivals in the UK and is seen as a leading force in the early music world.

Roberts also worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the university of Southampton working on the music of the 16th century. She also gave lectures, workshops and courses of Renaissance and early Baroque music at various universities.