Simon Estes

"Simon Estes" (born [Centerville]], Iona, USA on 2 February, 1938) is an America bass-baritone.

His Baptist father was a coal-miner. At the University of Iowa he sang tenor, but was reclassified as bass-baritone. In 1964 he went to the Juillard School and in the following year made his debut in Aida at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. In 1978 he sang the title role in Der fliegende Hollander at Bayreuth, the first male African-American to sing a major role on stage there. His 1985 reprise of the same role at Bayrueth was captured on video, and is still considered to be one of the best available on DVD.