DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1964-1998 | 1986-04-20 Article: ""Baritone's Davenport aunt proud of Simon Estes' success""

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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1964-1998

1986-04-20 Article: ""Baritone's Davenport aunt proud of Simon Estes' success""

The Argus, Rock Island, Ill, Sunday, April 20, 1986

Leisuretime

Baritone's Davenport aunt proud of Simon Estes' success

By Julie Jensen
Argus arts writer

Seeing Simon Estes in the role of an early 17th Century Russian tsar driven mad by remorse won't surprise the opera star's Davenport aunt, Cecile Cooper. She believes there'snothing "that man can't do." Ceil, as everyone calls her, has issued such a beguiling invitation to "come along and hear Simon" that the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra League has added a third bus to its tour to Iowa City for next Sunday's performance of "Boris Godunov." Ceil will wear a stylish blue dress made for her by a niece when she hears her most famous nephew make his american debut in the opera's title role. James Dixon will conduct the performance. Mrs. Cooper bemoans the fact that she can no longer get the distinctive deep blue hair coloring "that everyone knew me by," but her glowing eyes haven't changed, and neither has her smile. Everyone will know Ceil. Besides being the "auntie" of a famous singer, she's noted for bringing the scintillating Ebony fashion show to the Quad-Cities and for performing myriad good works. Almost a year ago, she moved back to Davenport from Coralville (adjacent to Iowa City), and she thinks it's ironic that the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collection requested her papers two days after she moved into her Davenport apartment. Those papers, which the university believes will be helpful to black studies researchers, contain scrapbooks filled with the triumphs of Simon Estes. What isn't in the scrapbooks is in the family memories they share. "He was the sweetest kid!" Mrs. Cooper said, leafing through pages written about Simon Estes winning the Tchaikovsky vocal contest in Moscow in 1966 and his Met tour and appearance with the Quad-City Symphony in 1984. She brought out a photograph of Estes's first daughter, Jennifer, saying, "I should have put a date on that." (Estes and his wife, Yvonne, now have two little girls.) "You know, Simon wanted to be a doctor at one time." Estes, the son of a Centerville, Iowa, coal miner, went to the University of Iowa on an athletic scholarship. He joined the Old Gold Singers just for fun, and that led to Charles Kellis discovering the potential of his voice and telling him he could sing opera. Mrs. Cooper got that far-away look of remembering and talked about the family. "I used to visit one of my aunties in the summertime. She told us we were going to visit Mrs. Jimson, and that meant we were going to pull weeds!" she said with a rich laugh. Estes has written cards and letters to his Aunt Ceil while touring all over the world, and she said, "He is just a honey!" How many friends has she invited to join the tour? "About 18. Whoever comes around here, I sell them a ticket!" The opera performance will be stellar, that's certain. Pushkin wrote the original play while he was in exile, giving Mussorgsky the libretto for his best known opera. The first performance of "Boris Gudonov" in 1874 in St. Petersburg was not a success. Rimsky-Korsakov tried to improve the orchestration twice, (1895 and 1908) and Shostakovich had a go at it in 1941. The real Boris Gudonov ruled as regent for a feeble-minded tsar for 13 years and in his own right for seven more years. He began a systematic conquest of Siberia, separated the Russian clergy from Greek domination, and took back much of the territory lost to Sweden under an earlier tsar. A terrific famine at the end of his reign threw the state into chaos. In the opera, Boris Gudonov disintegrates from guilt over murdering the tsarevich. The vividness and gloomy power of the opera are unique. So is Simon Estes. Cecile Cooper said, "He was a strong religious person, and when he was here before, he sang a benefit that let us pay off the church debt (Bethel A.M.E.) and burn the mortgage." Estes has accepted a teaching position at Julliard, where he studied himself, beginning next fall. When he comes home to Iowa, it's a family affair--not only for his relatives, but for the whole state and its neighbors. 

[CAPTION]: Cecile Cooper checks a scrapbook she keeps on Simon Estes

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The Argus, Rock Island, Ill, Sunday, April 20, 1986 Leisuretime Baritone's Davenport aunt proud of Simon Estes' success By Julie Jensen Argus arts writer Seeing Simon Estes in the role of an early 17th Century Russian tsar driven mad by remorse won't surprise the opera star's Davenport aunt, Cecile Cooper. She believes there'snothing "that man can't do." Ceil, as everyone calls her, has issued such a beguiling invitation to "come along and hear Simon" that the Quad-City Symphony Orchestra League has added a third bus to its tour to Iowa City for next Sunday's performance of "Boris Godunov." Ceil will wear a stylish blue dress made for her by a niece when she hears her most famous nephew make his american debut in the opera's title role. James Dixon will conduct the performance. Mrs. Cooper bemoans the fact that she can no longer get the distinctive deep blue hair coloring "that everyone knew me by," but her glowing eyes haven't changed, and neither has her smile. Everyone will know Ceil. Besides being the "auntie" of a famous singer, she's noted for bringing the scintillating Ebony fashion show to the Quad-Cities and for performing myriad good works. Almost a year ago, she moved back to Davenport from Coralville (adjacent to Iowa City), and she thinks it's ironic that the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collection requested her papers two days after she moved into her Davenport apartment. Those papers, which the university believes will be helpful to black studies researchers, contain scrapbooks filled with the triumphs of Simon Estes. What isn't in the scrapbooks is in the family memories they share. "He was the sweetest kid!" Mrs. Cooper said, leafing through pages written about Simon Estes winning the Tchaikovsky vocal contest in Moscow in 1966 and his Met tour and appearance with the Quad-City Symphony in 1984. She brought out a photograph of Estes's first daughter, Jennifer, saying, "I should have put a date on that." (Estes and his wife, Yvonne, now have two little girls.) "You know, Simon wanted to be a doctor at one time." Estes, the son of a Centerville, Iowa, coal miner, went to the University of Iowa on an athletic scholarship. He joined the Old Gold Singers just for fun, and that led to Charles Kellis discovering the potential of his voice and telling him he could sing opera. Mrs. Cooper got that far-away look of remembering and talked about the family. "I used to visit one of my aunties in the summertime. She told us we were going to visit Mrs. Jimson, and that meant we were going to pull weeds!" she said with a rich laugh. Estes has written cards and letters to his Aunt Ceil while touring all over the world, and she said, "He is just a honey!" How many friends has she invited to join the tour? "About 18. Whoever comes around here, I sell them a ticket!" The opera performance will be stellar, that's certain. Pushkin wrote the original play while he was in exile, giving Mussorgsky the libretto for his best known opera. The first performance of "Boris Gudonov" in 1874 in St. Petersburg was not a success. Rimsky-Korsakov tried to improve the orchestration twice, (1895 and 1908) and Shostakovich had a go at it in 1941. The real Boris Gudonov ruled as regent for a feeble-minded tsar for 13 years and in his own right for seven more years. He began a systematic conquest of Siberia, separated the Russian clergy from Greek domination, and took back much of the territory lost to Sweden under an earlier tsar. A terrific famine at the end of his reign threw the state into chaos. In the opera, Boris Gudonov disintegrates from guilt over murdering the tsarevich. The vividness and gloomy power of the opera are unique. So is Simon Estes. Cecile Cooper said, "He was a strong religious person, and when he was here before, he sang a benefit that let us pay off the church debt (Bethel A.M.E.) and burn the mortgage." Estes has accepted a teaching position at Julliard, where he studied himself, beginning next fall. When he comes home to Iowa, it's a family affair--not only for his relatives, but for the whole state and its neighbors. [CAPTION]: Cecile Cooper checks a scrapbook she keeps on Simon Estes