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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987

1982-10-10 ""Simon Estes comes home"" Page 1

Des Moines Sunday Register

Copyright 1982, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company

October 10, 1982

IOWA BOY

Simon Estes comes home

CENTERVILLE, IA -- It was an almost incredible statement.
The speaker was Simon Estes. Grandson of a slave. Former shoeshine boy at a hotel here. A poor, black kid who has grown up to become, at 44, one of the greatest bass-baritones in all of opera.
Saturday morning, he stood and spoke in the Appanoose Country Club, which is built like a plantation house in the Old South and which is a place Estes probably couldn't have entered in his youth. He was talking to 150 of Centerville's finest about the performance he will give at 2 p.m. today in the high school auditorium. It will be his first professional appearance in the old home town, a southern Iowa community of 6,558.
"I have sung for kings, queens, presidents, the pope and in the Kremlin," Estes began. "But there is nothing as moving to me as coming back home to sing, because you people are responding personally to me.
[[italics]]"This will be the most memorable occasion in my career, no matter that I have sung in the greatest opera houses in the world. There's no feeling like this."[[end italics]]
If the statement strikes you as incredible as it did me, please indulge Estes, who is caught up in a "whole weekend that is an incredibly wonderful experience for me." There's plenty of incredible around here right now: Consider how thrilled he is to be playing Centerville and then consider where he has been and is going.
He came here from doing haydn with the San Francisco Symphony. He goes from here to do Berlioz with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Next spring, he tours the U.S. with new York metropolitan Opera, singing the title role in a production of "Boris Godounov." He commands as much as $7,500 per appearance. He dresses better than Bill Reichardt. He and his Swiss wife, Yvonne, split time between residences in New York and Zurich.
Some life, huh?
Forget it for now. This weekend, this great star has stars in his eyes about Centerville, an old unaffluent coal town.
It is a place where, in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan published its own newspaper and ran slates of candidates for local government offices. There were still "obstacles" in the 1950s for black youths growing up here, Estes said, but there was also "love and encouragement and opportunities," especially in the warm home his parents provided him, his two sisters and brother.
He is visiting on homecoming weekend, a much bigger deal here than in most communities. The alumni actually come home. This is the time when the class reunions are held.
The idea that Estes, a 1956 Centerville High graduate, would join in on this year's homecoming activities was sparked in a telephone conversation last spring between Estes and Bob Beck, publisher of the Centerville Daily Iowegian.
"I was interviewing him for a story," said Beck. "He mentioned how other artists ask him how he was received when he first went back to his home after he'd really made it big. He had been back to perform in Des Moines and Iowa City, but never Centerville. We decided it was time to do something about that."
And thus we have the love-in going on here.
Estes arrived in Iowa earlier last week. He visited with his mother, Ruth Estes, a widow living in Des Moines, and bought her a new car. He went on to Iowa City for rehearsal with 

IOWA BOY
[[italics]]Please turn to Page 6B[[end italics]]

[[Photo caption]]
Simon Estes
Most memorable occasion.

p. 1 (of 2)

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Des Moines Sunday Register Copyright 1982, Des Moines Register and Tribune Company October 10, 1982 IOWA BOY Simon Estes comes home CENTERVILLE, IA -- It was an almost incredible statement. The speaker was Simon Estes. Grandson of a slave. Former shoeshine boy at a hotel here. A poor, black kid who has grown up to become, at 44, one of the greatest bass-baritones in all of opera. Saturday morning, he stood and spoke in the Appanoose Country Club, which is built like a plantation house in the Old South and which is a place Estes probably couldn't have entered in his youth. He was talking to 150 of Centerville's finest about the performance he will give at 2 p.m. today in the high school auditorium. It will be his first professional appearance in the old home town, a southern Iowa community of 6,558. "I have sung for kings, queens, presidents, the pope and in the Kremlin," Estes began. "But there is nothing as moving to me as coming back home to sing, because you people are responding personally to me. [[italics]]"This will be the most memorable occasion in my career, no matter that I have sung in the greatest opera houses in the world. There's no feeling like this."[[end italics]] If the statement strikes you as incredible as it did me, please indulge Estes, who is caught up in a "whole weekend that is an incredibly wonderful experience for me." There's plenty of incredible around here right now: Consider how thrilled he is to be playing Centerville and then consider where he has been and is going. He came here from doing haydn with the San Francisco Symphony. He goes from here to do Berlioz with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Next spring, he tours the U.S. with new York metropolitan Opera, singing the title role in a production of "Boris Godounov." He commands as much as $7,500 per appearance. He dresses better than Bill Reichardt. He and his Swiss wife, Yvonne, split time between residences in New York and Zurich. Some life, huh? Forget it for now. This weekend, this great star has stars in his eyes about Centerville, an old unaffluent coal town. It is a place where, in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan published its own newspaper and ran slates of candidates for local government offices. There were still "obstacles" in the 1950s for black youths growing up here, Estes said, but there was also "love and encouragement and opportunities," especially in the warm home his parents provided him, his two sisters and brother. He is visiting on homecoming weekend, a much bigger deal here than in most communities. The alumni actually come home. This is the time when the class reunions are held. The idea that Estes, a 1956 Centerville High graduate, would join in on this year's homecoming activities was sparked in a telephone conversation last spring between Estes and Bob Beck, publisher of the Centerville Daily Iowegian. "I was interviewing him for a story," said Beck. "He mentioned how other artists ask him how he was received when he first went back to his home after he'd really made it big. He had been back to perform in Des Moines and Iowa City, but never Centerville. We decided it was time to do something about that." And thus we have the love-in going on here. Estes arrived in Iowa earlier last week. He visited with his mother, Ruth Estes, a widow living in Des Moines, and bought her a new car. He went on to Iowa City for rehearsal with IOWA BOY [[italics]]Please turn to Page 6B[[end italics]] [[Photo caption]] Simon Estes Most memorable occasion. p. 1 (of 2)