Robert Sims
baritone
This season baritone Robert has appeared in his second telecast with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as solo appearances with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and at Symphony Center in Chicago. Recently, Robert debuted with the Chicago Opera Theater in the world premiere of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride and produced Majesty of the Spiritual at New York’s Lincoln Center. He has appeared as the leading baritone in The James Baldwin Chronicles with Renee Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, and as Pangloss in Bernstein’s Candide with the Oakland Symphony. Since his solo debut at Carnegie Hall (featuring a special appearance by the late Odetta), Sims has made several appearances at that venue performing the spirituals of Jacqueline B. Hairston, and most notably as a featured soloist in the series, Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy (at the invitation of Jessye Norman). His most recent Carnegie performance was a recital honoring the late Sylvia Olden Lee. Sims has been presented in the Bay Area numerous times by Four Seasons Concerts founded by the late Dr. W. Hazaiah Williams. He sang the world premiere of Alice Walker’s Peace is Always a Good Idea for the Afro Solo Music Festival in San Francisco and Noah Gasser’s Black Suite Blues with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra. He has been presented in concert by Friends of Negro Spirituals and has premiered Lena McLin’s I’m a Soldier with the Chicago Sinfonietta among other orchestras throughout the U.S. Robert will present his Majesty of the Spiritual featuring 16 internationally acclaimed artists at the War Memorial Herbst Theater in San Francisco on August 28th of this year. He is the recipient of the Living Heritage Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and the Friends of Negro Spirituals Heritage Keeper’s Award. Mr. Sims is the donor of the Robert Sims Spiritual Prize for the George Shirley Vocal Competition. He is an alumnus of Oberlin Conservatory, SUNY Binghamton, Northwestern University, and Music Academy of the West. For more information visit www.RobertSims.com
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