Roland Hayes: Difference between revisions

In January 1915 Hayes premiered in [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]] in concerts presented by orchestra leader [[Walter F. Craig]].<ref>Brooks 2015, p. 36.</ref> Hayes performed his own [[musical arrangement]]s in [[recital]]s from 1916 to 1919, touring from coast to coast. For his first recital he was unable to find a sponsor so he used 200 dollars of his own money to rent [[Jordan Hall (Boston)|Jordan Hall]] for his classical recital. To earn money he went on a tour of black churches and colleges in the South. In 1917 he announced his second concert, which would be held in [[Symphony Hall, Boston|Boston's Symphony Hall]]. On November 15, 1917, every seat in the hall was sold and Hayes's concert was a success both musically and financially, but the [[music industry]] was still not considering him a top classical performer.<ref>Tim Brooks, Richard Keith Spottswood, ''Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890–1919'', University of Illinois Press, 2004.</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2013}} He sang at Walter Craig's Pre-Lenten Recitals<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = McFarland| isbn = 9780786414673| last = Nettles| first = Darryl Glenn| title = African American Concert Singers Before 1950| date =March 1, 2003 | page = 29}}</ref> and several [[Carnegie Hall]] concerts. He performed with the [[Philadelphia Concert Orchestra]], and at the Atlanta Colored Music Festivals and at the Washington Conservatory<!--Is that the National Conservatory of Music of America?--> concerts. In 1917, he toured with the Hayes Trio, which he formed with baritone William Richardson (singer) and pianist William Lawrence (pianist).

In April 1920, Hayes traveled to Europe. He began lessons with [[Sir George Henschel]], who was the first conductor of the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], and gave his first recital in London's [[Aeolian Hall, London|Aeolian Hall]] in May 1920 with pianist Lawrence Brown as his accompanist. By at least June 1921 he was being invited to sing at private house parties; the poet [[Siegfried Sassoon]] heard him while staying with the wealthy music-lover [[Frank Schuster (music patron)|Frank Schuster]] at Bray-on-Thames.<ref>Hart-Davis, Rupert, ed. ''Siegfried Sassoon Diaries, 1920-1922'', Faber and Faber, London, 1981, p.69:"Have written one poem, 'A Negro Singer' - Roland Hayes, who came down last Sunday and sang Fauré's 'Apres un Rêve' beautifully, and some spirituals, [[Adrian Boult]] at the piano."
</ref> Soon Hayes was singing in capital cities across Europe and was quite famous. Almost a year after his arrival in Europe, Hayes had a concert at London's [[Wigmore Hall]]. The next day, he received a summons from [[George V|King George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] to give a command performance at [[Buckingham Palace]]. He returned to the United States of America in 1923. He made his official debut on November 16, 1923, in Boston's Symphony Hall singing [[Berlioz]], [[Mozart]], and spirituals, conducted by [[Pierre Monteux]], which received critical acclaim. He was the first African-American soloist to appear with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.<ref>Canarina, John (2003). ''Pierre Monteux, Maître''. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press, p. 71.</ref> He was awarded the [[Spingarn Medal]] in 1924.