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Cecile Cooper newspaper clippings, 1966-1987

1979-08-12 Article: ""To have Simon sing again in the Quad-Cities has been a dream of mine for a long time""

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hunter morehouse 'To have Simon sing again in the Quad-Cities has been a dream of mine for a long time' Iowa-born bass-baritone Simon Estes, who won the First International Techaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Russia, will give a benefit concert at St. Ambrose College on Thursday, Sept. 20. The 8p.m. performance in the Galvin Fine Arts Center is sponsored by the Quad-Cities Afro-American Arts Council. The Chairman of the performance is Simon Estes aunt, Cecile Cooper, former Davenporter now living in Coralville, Iowa. "To have Simon sing again in the Quad-Cities has been a dream of mine for long time," says Mrs. Cooper. Estes is currently performing in operas and concerts throughout Europe and will be back in New York in early September. The Centerville, Iowa, native has been lauded for his performances in at the Met in New York, at LaScala in Vienna and Paris. He has sung more than 80 operatic roles on four continents, as well as performing with virtually all of the worlds leading orchestras. Tickets for his performance are available at the Galvin Fine Arts Center, St. Ambrose College; at the Quad-City Times Public Service Desk; at St. Josephs Church, Rock Island; and from all Quad-City Afro-American Arts Council members. Others on the benefit committee and Andrew Edelin, John Greenwood, Barbara Womach and Leon Holliverse, all of Davenport; and Helen Gresham, Bettendorf. Of The Singer, a Berlin reviewer wrote: "Simon Estes sings in such truly stirring manner that I had to fight against my emotions although I have been hardened for some time in the business of criticism." And an Italian reviewer said his voice was "so brilliant he opens a new school of singing," and a Vienna writer compared his voice with "George London at its best." In Chicago, a Tribune reviewer called his voice "velvet, resonant and cultivated." "He's a pioneer black artist," says his aunt. "Simon always said that God gave him the talent to sing, and he chose classical music because it is profound in meaning and requires more skill and study."
 
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