Robert Lewis Sims a lyric baritone

Baritone

Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

 who specializes in African American folk songs and spirituals, is known for his rich tone, energetic performances and convincing stage presence.

Robert Sims, the Gold Medal winner of the American Traditions Competition, gave the first all spiritual and folk song recital at Carnegie Hall’s

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 Zankel Hall in 2005. In March of 2009, he was invited by Jessye Norman

Jessye Norman

Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...

 to participate in Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy at Carnegie Hall. Sims has performed in recital with folk legend Odetta

Odetta

Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...

 and renowned opera and concert singers George Shirley

George Shirley

George Irving Shirley is a renowned tenor opera singer.He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.-External links:*** by Bruce Duffie...

, William Warfield

William Warfield

William Caesar Warfield , was an American concert bass-baritone singer and actor.-Early life and career:Warfield was born in West Helena, Arkansas and grew up in Rochester, New York, where his father was called to serve as pastor of Mt. Vernon Church. He gave his recital debut in New York's Town...

, Simon Estes

Simon Estes

Simon Estes is an operatic bass-baritone of African-American descent who had a major international opera career since the 1960s...

, Benjamin Matthews, and Jubilant Sykes

Jubilant Sykes

Jubilant Sykes is an American baritone. He has performed with Christopher Parkening and other artists, and has appeared in such venues as the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, London's Barbican Centre, the Apollo Theater, Hollywood Bowl, New Orleans Jazz...

. Equally at home with standard operatic literature and classic jazz, Robert has collaborated with the Georgia Guitar Quartet

Georgia Guitar Quartet

The Georgia Guitar Quartet began in 1996 in Athens, Georgia at the behest of John Sutherland, instructor of guitar studies at the University of Georgia and pupil of Andres Segovia. The quartet still comprises all four original founding members: Kyle Dawkins, Brian Smith, Phil Snyder, and Jason...

 in songs from Bernstein to Bob Dylan. He joined David Baker and Mercedes Ellington for Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

’s The Sacred Concerts and My People, and in 1997 toured Japan with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra singing Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

’s Opening Prayer. A favorite at Dr. Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral

Crystal Cathedral

The Crystal Cathedral is a Protestant Christian church building in the city of Garden Grove, in Orange County, California, United States. It is the headquarters and principal place of worship for Crystal Cathedral Ministries, a church founded in 1955 by Robert H. Schuller and affiliated with the...

 in Garden Grove, California, Sims has appeared on several Hour of Power international telecasts. In January 2011, Sims performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on a special broadcast of the choir's long-running Music and the Spoken Word.

Education

Robert Sims is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, located on the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, was founded in 1865 and is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States. Students of Oberlin Conservatory enter a very broad network within the music world, as the school's alumni...

, the State University of New York at Binghamton, Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

, and the American Conservatory of Music

American Conservatory of Music

The American Conservatory of Music was a major American school of music founded in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt . The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It was located in Chicago until 1991 when its Board of Trustees — chaired by Frederic Wilbur Hickman...

. He has also studied at the Music Academy of the West

Music Academy of the West

The Music Academy of the West is a music conservatory located in Montecito, California near Santa Barbara, California. Every year, it hosts a summer music festival for the community highlighted by concerts and workshops directed by famous composers, conductors, and artists.A yearly maximum of 135...

, Chautauqua Musical Institute, and the Oberlin/Urbania Vocal Institute in Urbania, Italy.

Achievements

Lyric Opera of Chicago Education Award 1982
Friedrich Schorr Opera Award Winner 1993
Founder of Canti Classics Artist Management and Production Company with Everton Swearing and Arthur White 1998
PBS Television Special “He’s Got Spirit” Art Beat Chicago 1998
American Traditions Gold Medal Winner 1999
Founder of Three Generations, (vocal trio) with Benjamin Matthews and William Warfield 1999