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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987

1971-07-30 ""Centerville Native Strives for the Met""

Simon Estes a UI Graduate - 
Centerville Native Strives for the Met
P.C - 7/30/71

By MARY CAMPBELL

NEW YORK (AP) -- The night the Concert Hall opened at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Symphony played, with Antal Dorati conducting.
The two soloists of the evening were the famous, Russian-born violinist Issac Stern, 51, in Beethoven's "Violin Concerto in D," and the not-yet-famous, Iowa-born bass-baritone Simon Estes, 33, in William Schuman's "A Free Song," a cantata based on poems of Walt Whitman. The Paul Hill Chorale of Washington and the Choral Arts Society of Washington made up the chorus.

[[bold]]Maestro Dorati had engaged[[end bold]] Estes to sing with him before, in fact he engaged him the first time he heard him sing. Estes's manager in London told Dorati about him. Estes was at that time singing in Zurich in Handel's "Messiah." Since Dorati was going to Zurich from London, he listened, and then he immediately hired Estes for two 1970 performances of Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" with the National Symphony in Washington. He also engaged him for five performances of the "ninth" last December in Stockholm and the Verdi "Requiem in London this July.
Estes is, at present, singing mostly on the concert stage. But, he says, "I want to be a member of the Metropolitan Opera -- very soon."
The only black man singing now at the Met is tenor George Shirley. Women include Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry. Are all American.

[[bold]]Estes says, "I have a theory[[end bold]] why there are so few Nego men in opera. For one thing, leaders of opera houses are male and there is an unconscious attraction to black women -- exotic, forbidden fruit.
"White audiences don't want to see a black man playing opposite a white woman on the stage. Many people are totally unaware they feel this way. They don't mind so much a white man and a black woman -- that goes back to the days of slavery. But if they see a black guy on the stage with a white woman, they're not ready for that.
"I've gotten lots of excuses not to be hired -- my voices was too big, too small, I was too tall, too short, too fat, too thin. There have been opera companies in this country that said they wanted to engage me but if they did some wealthy person would say to them, 'You don't get my money,' so they couldn't do it.
"I think black men have to have representation in grand opera. The American dream has to be open to everybody, as long as they're an American and talented. A little black boy growing up has to be able to enter something besides sports and jazz. Students say to me, 'We don't have a place in opera.'

[[bold]]"I have a feeling I wil get[[end bold]] to the Met. One person is small, but if a pebble is dropped properly the ripples will eventually reach the shores. I have a feeling if I get in the Met, people will be more aware that black males are singing opera. I think it's vitally important to America today that we permit black people, whenever qualified, to perform their talent. The first time an audience sees a black man on an opera stage they may not like it, but then they may see that it really isn't hurting anything. It should help ease tensions.
"I don't want to knock the next black tenor that comes along, but a bass-baritone isn't even going to mess around with the women. He's usually an elderly king or a broken-down czar that is neurotic."
Estes was born in Centerville, Iowa, where his father had moved from Missouri to work in the coal mines. His father's father had been a slave in Missouri; he died before Estes was born.
There were 286 black people among Centerville's 9,000 and in school, Estes reacalls, the black children weren't allowed to take part in school plays or help younger children cross streets. "They never let you do anything but music and gym," Estes says. "If there was anything intellectual or responsible, you n ever get a chance. Every day our parents had to explain this to us kids."

[[bold]]One thing Estes's parents[[end bold]] stressed was education. He entered the University of Iowa, as a pre-med student. He switched to religion courses, then is voice teacher Charles Kellis heard him, and thinking he had opera potential, started giving him lessons. Kellis arranged for Estes to get a scholarship to the Julliard School in 1963, where he attended for a year. Then, with money from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation, the New York Community Trust Fund and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Estes went to Europe in 1964. He auditioned for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and was offered the part of Ramfis in "Aida."

After that he sang more with the Deutsche Oper and in Lubeck. In the Hamburg Opera's premiere of "The Visitation," he sang Uncle Albert. Later, he sang the leading role of Carter Jones in that opera, in San Francisco, Urbana, Ill., and on BBC-TV. In the United States he also has sung in Atlanta, Chicago, Portland, Hartford, Philadelphia and Boston.
Estes has done some recording. He is on Rachmaninoff's "Aleko" suite by Andre Kostelanetz, the "Don Carlo" with Montserrat Caballe and Placido Domingo, on the Shostakovich "14th Symphony" and on "Judas Maccabeus," by the Handel Society, which will come out [[?]] January, and which he will [[?]] this season at Carnegie [[Hall?]] and in Chicago. "I sing [[?]]art." Simon Estes Says. [[?]] Simon."

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Simon Estes a UI Graduate - Centerville Native Strives for the Met P.C - 7/30/71 By MARY CAMPBELL NEW YORK (AP) -- The night the Concert Hall opened at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Symphony played, with Antal Dorati conducting. The two soloists of the evening were the famous, Russian-born violinist Issac Stern, 51, in Beethoven's "Violin Concerto in D," and the not-yet-famous, Iowa-born bass-baritone Simon Estes, 33, in William Schuman's "A Free Song," a cantata based on poems of Walt Whitman. The Paul Hill Chorale of Washington and the Choral Arts Society of Washington made up the chorus. [[bold]]Maestro Dorati had engaged[[end bold]] Estes to sing with him before, in fact he engaged him the first time he heard him sing. Estes's manager in London told Dorati about him. Estes was at that time singing in Zurich in Handel's "Messiah." Since Dorati was going to Zurich from London, he listened, and then he immediately hired Estes for two 1970 performances of Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" with the National Symphony in Washington. He also engaged him for five performances of the "ninth" last December in Stockholm and the Verdi "Requiem in London this July. Estes is, at present, singing mostly on the concert stage. But, he says, "I want to be a member of the Metropolitan Opera -- very soon." The only black man singing now at the Met is tenor George Shirley. Women include Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry. Are all American. [[bold]]Estes says, "I have a theory[[end bold]] why there are so few Nego men in opera. For one thing, leaders of opera houses are male and there is an unconscious attraction to black women -- exotic, forbidden fruit. "White audiences don't want to see a black man playing opposite a white woman on the stage. Many people are totally unaware they feel this way. They don't mind so much a white man and a black woman -- that goes back to the days of slavery. But if they see a black guy on the stage with a white woman, they're not ready for that. "I've gotten lots of excuses not to be hired -- my voices was too big, too small, I was too tall, too short, too fat, too thin. There have been opera companies in this country that said they wanted to engage me but if they did some wealthy person would say to them, 'You don't get my money,' so they couldn't do it. "I think black men have to have representation in grand opera. The American dream has to be open to everybody, as long as they're an American and talented. A little black boy growing up has to be able to enter something besides sports and jazz. Students say to me, 'We don't have a place in opera.' [[bold]]"I have a feeling I wil get[[end bold]] to the Met. One person is small, but if a pebble is dropped properly the ripples will eventually reach the shores. I have a feeling if I get in the Met, people will be more aware that black males are singing opera. I think it's vitally important to America today that we permit black people, whenever qualified, to perform their talent. The first time an audience sees a black man on an opera stage they may not like it, but then they may see that it really isn't hurting anything. It should help ease tensions. "I don't want to knock the next black tenor that comes along, but a bass-baritone isn't even going to mess around with the women. He's usually an elderly king or a broken-down czar that is neurotic." Estes was born in Centerville, Iowa, where his father had moved from Missouri to work in the coal mines. His father's father had been a slave in Missouri; he died before Estes was born. There were 286 black people among Centerville's 9,000 and in school, Estes reacalls, the black children weren't allowed to take part in school plays or help younger children cross streets. "They never let you do anything but music and gym," Estes says. "If there was anything intellectual or responsible, you n ever get a chance. Every day our parents had to explain this to us kids." [[bold]]One thing Estes's parents[[end bold]] stressed was education. He entered the University of Iowa, as a pre-med student. He switched to religion courses, then is voice teacher Charles Kellis heard him, and thinking he had opera potential, started giving him lessons. Kellis arranged for Estes to get a scholarship to the Julliard School in 1963, where he attended for a year. Then, with money from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation, the New York Community Trust Fund and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Estes went to Europe in 1964. He auditioned for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and was offered the part of Ramfis in "Aida." After that he sang more with the Deutsche Oper and in Lubeck. In the Hamburg Opera's premiere of "The Visitation," he sang Uncle Albert. Later, he sang the leading role of Carter Jones in that opera, in San Francisco, Urbana, Ill., and on BBC-TV. In the United States he also has sung in Atlanta, Chicago, Portland, Hartford, Philadelphia and Boston. Estes has done some recording. He is on Rachmaninoff's "Aleko" suite by Andre Kostelanetz, the "Don Carlo" with Montserrat Caballe and Placido Domingo, on the Shostakovich "14th Symphony" and on "Judas Maccabeus," by the Handel Society, which will come out [[?]] January, and which he will [[?]] this season at Carnegie [[Hall?]] and in Chicago. "I sing [[?]]art." Simon Estes Says. [[?]] Simon."