DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987 | 1984-02-26 ""Simon Estes soloist with symphony"" Page 1

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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987

1984-02-26 ""Simon Estes soloist with symphony"" Page 1

Argus - Rock Island
Feb. 26, 1984

Simon Estes soloist with symphony

Iowa-born baritone Simon Estes, member of the Metropolitan Opera, will be soloist for the fifth trio of concerts by the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra next weekend.
Concerts will be at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Augustana Centennial Hall and at 2 p.m. Sunday in Davenport Masonic Auditorium.
Conductor James Dixon will open the program with the overture to Von Weber's "Der Freischutz."
Next will be the world premiere of "Fire and Earth and Water and Air" by Nicholas Roussakis. The symphonic poem based on the creation of the four classical elements was written for Dixon and the Tri-City Symphony on commission of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Roussakis will attend the weekend performances.

Before intermission, Estes will sing the recitative and air, "Thus Saith the Lord" and "But Who May Abide" from Handel's "Messiah," and the aria, "Wehe, wehe mir der qual," from Richard Wagner's last opera, "Parsifal."
After intermission, Dixon will conduct the orchestra in Tchaikovsky's "Serenade in C for Strings." 
Estes will return to the stage to sing "Se vuol Ballare" from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," and the recitative and aria, "Perfidi! All anglo contro me v'unite!" and "Pieta, rispetto, amore" from Verdi's "Macbeth."

Forty-two-year-old Estes, a native of Centerville, Iowa, attended the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School of Music in New York City.
In 1966, the six-foot-tall bass-baritone made headlines for the first time as silver medalist in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition, and more headlines in 1978 when he became the first black man to sing at Bayreuth in Germany when Richard Wagner's grandson, Wolfgang, chose him to sing the title role in "Der Fliegende Hollander," which he has sung 18 times in three successive Bayreuth Festivals.
Estes has sung 84 leading roles in such opera houses as Milan's La Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, Zurich Opera, Hamburg Opera, Munich's Bayerische Staatsoper, Shicago Lyric, Frankfurt Opera, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and San Francisco Opera.
Some of his roles include King Marke and Wotan in Wagner's "Das Rehingold," "Die Walkure" and "Siegfried;" the four villians in "Tales of Hoffman;" the title roles of "Boris Godunov" and "Attila;" King Philip in "Don Carlo;" Amonasro in "Aida;" Sarastro in "Magic Flute;" Escamillo in "Carmen;" Oreste in "Elektra;" Pizarro in "Fidelio," and Arkel in "Pelleas et Melisande."

He made his official debut wit the Met during a 1976 touring production of "Norma" at Wolf Trap Farm outside Washington, D.C. On April 12, 1981 he made his debut on the Met stage in New York City, singing the Wotan music from the second act of Wagner's "Die Walkure" with soprano Birgit Nilsson during a gala all-Wagner concert.
With a repertoire of more than 50 oratorios and symphonic works, Estes has appeared as soloist with most of the world's leading orchestras under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Antal Dorati, Rafael Kubelik, Carlo Maria Guilini, Enrich Leinsdorf, Zeta Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Eugene Ormandy and Seiji Ozawa.
With Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, he appeared in the American premiere of Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 14." With Dorati and the National Symphony, he was a soloist in William Schuman's "A Free Song" at the inaugural concert of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
He sang at the opening of the Olympic games in Munich and made a command performance for President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House.
At age 8, Estes began singing in Centerville's Second Baptist Church. He worked his way through the University of Iowa, and he became the first black member of the university's Old Gold Singers. He came to the attention of Charles Kallis, a member of the university's school of music, who became his voice teacher.
At Juilliard, he studied with Sergius Kagan and Christopher West. With grant from the Martha Biard Rockefeller Foundation and the New York Community Trust and NAACP, he went to Europe to start his career. His first appearance was in the role of Ramfis in "Aida" at the Deutsche Opera in Berlin.

Composer Roussakis, 50, was born in Athens, Greece and came to the United States at the age of 15. He received his doctorate from Columbia University, New York, where he taught for nine years prior to his current position on the faculty of Rutger's University.
He has served as president of the American Composers Alliance and was co-founder of the American Composers Orchestra, which Dixon has conducted.
In April 1976, the Tri-City Sympphony premiered his "Ode and Cataclysm."
Tickets for all three concerts will be on sale at the box office.

pg. 1 (of 2)

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Argus - Rock Island Feb. 26, 1984 Simon Estes soloist with symphony Iowa-born baritone Simon Estes, member of the Metropolitan Opera, will be soloist for the fifth trio of concerts by the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra next weekend. Concerts will be at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Augustana Centennial Hall and at 2 p.m. Sunday in Davenport Masonic Auditorium. Conductor James Dixon will open the program with the overture to Von Weber's "Der Freischutz." Next will be the world premiere of "Fire and Earth and Water and Air" by Nicholas Roussakis. The symphonic poem based on the creation of the four classical elements was written for Dixon and the Tri-City Symphony on commission of the National Endowment for the Arts. Roussakis will attend the weekend performances. Before intermission, Estes will sing the recitative and air, "Thus Saith the Lord" and "But Who May Abide" from Handel's "Messiah," and the aria, "Wehe, wehe mir der qual," from Richard Wagner's last opera, "Parsifal." After intermission, Dixon will conduct the orchestra in Tchaikovsky's "Serenade in C for Strings." Estes will return to the stage to sing "Se vuol Ballare" from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," and the recitative and aria, "Perfidi! All anglo contro me v'unite!" and "Pieta, rispetto, amore" from Verdi's "Macbeth." Forty-two-year-old Estes, a native of Centerville, Iowa, attended the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. In 1966, the six-foot-tall bass-baritone made headlines for the first time as silver medalist in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition, and more headlines in 1978 when he became the first black man to sing at Bayreuth in Germany when Richard Wagner's grandson, Wolfgang, chose him to sing the title role in "Der Fliegende Hollander," which he has sung 18 times in three successive Bayreuth Festivals. Estes has sung 84 leading roles in such opera houses as Milan's La Scala, Vienna Staatsoper, Zurich Opera, Hamburg Opera, Munich's Bayerische Staatsoper, Shicago Lyric, Frankfurt Opera, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and San Francisco Opera. Some of his roles include King Marke and Wotan in Wagner's "Das Rehingold," "Die Walkure" and "Siegfried;" the four villians in "Tales of Hoffman;" the title roles of "Boris Godunov" and "Attila;" King Philip in "Don Carlo;" Amonasro in "Aida;" Sarastro in "Magic Flute;" Escamillo in "Carmen;" Oreste in "Elektra;" Pizarro in "Fidelio," and Arkel in "Pelleas et Melisande." He made his official debut wit the Met during a 1976 touring production of "Norma" at Wolf Trap Farm outside Washington, D.C. On April 12, 1981 he made his debut on the Met stage in New York City, singing the Wotan music from the second act of Wagner's "Die Walkure" with soprano Birgit Nilsson during a gala all-Wagner concert. With a repertoire of more than 50 oratorios and symphonic works, Estes has appeared as soloist with most of the world's leading orchestras under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Antal Dorati, Rafael Kubelik, Carlo Maria Guilini, Enrich Leinsdorf, Zeta Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Eugene Ormandy and Seiji Ozawa. With Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, he appeared in the American premiere of Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 14." With Dorati and the National Symphony, he was a soloist in William Schuman's "A Free Song" at the inaugural concert of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. He sang at the opening of the Olympic games in Munich and made a command performance for President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. At age 8, Estes began singing in Centerville's Second Baptist Church. He worked his way through the University of Iowa, and he became the first black member of the university's Old Gold Singers. He came to the attention of Charles Kallis, a member of the university's school of music, who became his voice teacher. At Juilliard, he studied with Sergius Kagan and Christopher West. With grant from the Martha Biard Rockefeller Foundation and the New York Community Trust and NAACP, he went to Europe to start his career. His first appearance was in the role of Ramfis in "Aida" at the Deutsche Opera in Berlin. Composer Roussakis, 50, was born in Athens, Greece and came to the United States at the age of 15. He received his doctorate from Columbia University, New York, where he taught for nine years prior to his current position on the faculty of Rutger's University. He has served as president of the American Composers Alliance and was co-founder of the American Composers Orchestra, which Dixon has conducted. In April 1976, the Tri-City Sympphony premiered his "Ode and Cataclysm." Tickets for all three concerts will be on sale at the box office. pg. 1 (of 2)