Robert Lewis Sims a lyric baritone who specializes in African-American folk songs and spirituals, is known for his rich tone, energetic performances and convincing stage presence.
Education
Robert Sims is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the State University of New York at Binghamton, Northwestern University, and the American Conservatory of Music. He has also studied at the Music Academy of the West, Chautauqua Musical Institute, and the Oberlin/Urbania Vocal Institute in Urbania, Italy.
Career
In March 2009, he was invited by Jessye Norman to participate in Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy at Carnegie Hall. Sims has performed in recital with folk legend Odetta and renowned opera and concert singers George Shirley, William Warfield, Simon Estes, Benjamin Matthews, and Jubilant Sykes. Equally at home with standard operatic literature and classic jazz, Robert has collaborated with the Georgia Guitar Quartet in songs from Bernstein to Bob Dylan.
He joined David Baker and Mercedes Ellington for Duke Ellington’s The Sacred Concerts and My People, and in 1997 toured Japan with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra singing Leonard Bernstein’s Opening Prayer.
A favorite at Doctor Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, Sims has appeared on several Hour of Power international telecasts.