Robert Sims to Perform at Lincoln Center Bruno Walter Auditorium, 10/4

In an extraordinary life that grappled with racial tensions, interracial liaisons, personal scandals and politics, lyric tenor Roland Hayes (1887 - 1977), was the first African American man to reach international fame as a concert performer and one of the few artists who could sell out Carnegie Hall and other major venues. Once called the "Black Caruso," Hayes was also hailed as one of the greatest performers of the 20th century. On October 4, critically acclaimed baritone Robert Sims will honor Hayes with a concert featuring African American spirituals, arranged by Hayes and narrated by George Shirley, in conjunction with his latest recording Robert Sims Sings the Spirituals of Roland Hayes.

The concert will be followed by a panel discussion about this amazingly talented historical icon and musician as chronicled in the award winning, best-selling biography authored by Christopher A. Brooks and Sims, Roland Hayes: The Legacy of An American Tenor. Rounding out the panel will be narrator George Shirley, leading tenor of the Metropolitan Opera, tenor Paul Spencer Adkins, and Deborah Mims, joint producers of the Hayes PBS documentary.

ABOUT ROBERT SIMS--Robert Sims, Gold Medal winner of the American Traditions Competition, has been hailed by critics for his rich tone, energetic performances, and convincing stage presence.Mr. Sims has been highly praised for his moving interpretations of African American spirituals, and has given numerous recitals of them throughout the United States, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has appeared with many orchestras in the U.S., and toured Japan with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra where he was featured in a nationally televised performance of Bernstein's Opening Prayer. In 2005, Sims made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall and was invited by Jessye Norman to participate in Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy at Carnegie Hall in March of 2009. He recently appeared with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and made his debut in the United Kingdom with the Gibraltar Philharmonic. He has performed in concert at New York's Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Institution, the Ravinia, Chautauqua, Savannah, Grant Park, and Big|Brave Arts summer music festivals, the Latour de France International Music Festival, and the celebrated American Church in Paris. Under the auspices of Canti Classics, Community Concerts, and Live On Stage Series, Sims has performed more than 150 recitals throughout the United States.

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER BROOKS--Christopher A. Brooks is Professor of Anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University and an internationally renowned biographer best known for documenting the contributions of celebrated African American personalities. Among his recent major works is the award-winning Follow Your Heart: Moving with the Giants of Jazz, Swing and Rhythm and Blues and the bestselling I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer, with the late opera great Shirley Verrett. His books have been reviewed in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, Opera Quarterly, Book Reporter, Opera News, Ebony Magazine, Kirkus Book Reviews, Down Beat Magazine, Jazz UK (British based), Richmond Times Dispatch, Black Issues Book Review, Publishers Weekly, La Scena Musicale Online (Italian based), The Sowetan (South African based), The Afro-American, The Chicago Crusader, and Style Magazine (Richmond based) among other publications.

MORE ABOUT ROLAND HAYES -- Performing in a country rife with racism and segregation Roland Hayes always intended his story be told. During his lifetime, he produced an autobiography, Angel Mo' and Her Son, Roland Hayes (written by the late McKinley Helm) which covered his life up to 1942. To document his rich life further, Hayes left more than one hundred thousand personal papers, photographs, correspondences, manuscripts, recordings, and other ephemera.

Hayes was the first African American musician to perform with a major symphony orchestra, which led him to sing with many world-renowned orchestras under the batons of celebrated conductors. He was one of the first concert artists to routinely program African American spirituals on his recitals, thereby beginning a tradition which continues among African American concert vocalists today. He transcended cultural, geographical, and musical boundaries with his mastery of genres and a repertory from some of history's greatest composers. His vocal nuance and ability to sing messa di voce (the advanced vocal technique where the singer gradually crescendos and decrescendos on a single sustained note) could spontaneously send shivers through his audience.

Hayes's trail-blazing career carved the paths for Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson, Todd Duncan, Dorothy Maynor, and became the model for later generations of singers including Robert McFerrin, William Warfield, George Shirley, Simon Estes, Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, and folksinger Odetta. His life was peppered with encounters and relationships that would place him among some of the most influential thinkers and artists of the twentieth century. He counted George Washington Carver, Eleanor Roosevelt, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ansel Adams, Mary McLeod Bethune, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Alain Locke, Ezra Pound, A'lelia Walker, Harry T. Burleigh, Carl Van Vechten, Richmond Barthé, and Langston Hughes among his personal friends or strong acquaintances.

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