Roland Hayes (1887–1976) is considered the first African American male concert artist to receive wide international acclaim as well as at home. Hayes was a singer trained in with Arthur Calhoun in Chatanooga as well as at Fisk University in Nashville. As a student he began publicly performing touring with the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1911. He furthered his studies in Boston with Arthur Hubbard. During his period studying with Hubbard he was a messenger at the Hancock Life Insurance Company to support himself. The in London England he studied with George Henschel and Amanda Ira Aldridge.

He began with arranging his own recitals and coast-to-coast tours from 1916–1919. He sang at Craig's Pre-Lenten Recitals and several Carnegie Hall concerts. He made his official debut that year in Boston's Symphony Hall which received critical acclaim. He performed with the Philadelphia Concert Orchestra, and at the Atlanta Colored Music Festivals and at the Washington, D.C. Washington Conservatory concerts. In 1917, he toured with the Hayes Trio which he formed with baritone William Richardson and pianist William Lawrence who was his regular accompanist. His London debut was in April 1920 at Aeolian Hall with pianist Lawrence Brown as his accompanist. Soon Hayes was singing in capital cities accross Europe and was quite famous when he returned to the United states in 1923.

Hayes finally secured professional management with the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Company. He was reportedly making $100,000 a year at this point in his carreer. Critics lauded his abilities and linguistic skills with songs in French, German and Italian. He published a collection of his favorite songs as My Songs; Aframerican Religious Folks.

In 1982, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga opened a new musical performance center, the Roland W. Hayes Concert Hall. The concert venue is located at the Dorothy Patten Fine Arts center.

References

The Music of Black Americans: A History. Eileen Southern. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. ISBN 0393971414