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About Simon Estes
Internationally renowned bass-baritone Simon Estes enjoys the acclaim of audiences and critics around the globe. Since his debut with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1965, Simon Estes has performed with major international opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, New York; Lyric Opera, Chicago; San Francisco Opera; La Scala, Milan; Deutsche Opera, Berlin; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; The Washington Opera; L'Opera de Paris; Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; the State Operas of Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Zurich and at the Bayreuth, Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals.
A noted recitalist and orchestra soloist as well, Mr. Estes has sung with the world's leading orchestras under the batons of such conductors as Gerd Albrecht, Leonard Bernstein, Gary Bertini, Myung Whun Chung, James Conlon, Sir Colin Davis, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Carlo Maria Giulini, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Mstislav Rostropovich, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sir Georg Solti, Horst Stein, Marcello Viotti and David Zinman.
Several performances have been historic milestones in Mr. Estes' career. His triumphant debut as Dutchman at the Bayreuth Festival in 1978 was the first appearance of any black male artist there. He was the Metropolitan Opera's first Porgy in 1985 and sang the following year with the Boston Pops at the Statue of Liberty centennial celebration. He has sung at the White House for three American Presidents and in 1990 performed at the service honoring Nelson Mandela at New York's Riverside Church and with the National Symphony under the direction of Mstislav Rostropovich for the Fourth of July Celebration in Washington. In the fall of 1994 he sang for Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu in The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Among his recording credits are works on the Auvidis, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Deutsche Schallplatten, EMI, Phillips Classics and Sony Classical labels.
In response to the tragic tornado and flooding of Iowa in the spring of 2008, Mr. Estes performed a benefit concert with the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Conductor Joseph Giunta in which $38,000 was raised and Mr. Estes presented a check to the citizens of Parkersburg, Iowa. In September, 2008 Mr. Estes joined the Choir of Wartburg College in a benefit concert for the flood victims of Waverly, Iowa.
Mr. Estes' love and concern for youth is manifested in numerous scholarship organizations that bear his name. These include The Simon Estes Scholarship Fund at the University of Iowa; The Simon and Westella H. Estes Scholarship Fund at Centerville Community College, Centerville, Iowa; The Simon Estes Educational Foundation, Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma; The Simon Estes International Foundation, Inc., Zurich, Switzerland; The Simon Estes Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa and the Simon Estes Iowa Educational Foundation.
Simon Estes, a native of Centerville, Iowa, is the father of three daughters, Jennifer Barbara, Lynne Ashley and Tiffany Joy. He and his wife, Ovida, now live in Iowa. Professor Estes has teaching positions at Boston University, Iowa State University and Wartburg College. He also maintains an active schedule of performances and master classes. Recent Awards presented to Dr. Estes are the Distinguished Iowa Citizen Award and the Alumni Award of Iowa State University.
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