Robert E. Honeysucker, Jr. (January 14, 1943 – October 7, 2017) was an American baritone.

Biography

Robert E. Honeysucker, Jr. was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. His father, Robert E. Honeysucker, was a preacher. He was one of four children of Robert Sr. and Willa Ann Honeysucker. Honeysucker grew up in the South in the 1960s, becoming an activist for social change at an early age. He joined the youth division of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

and worked to register voters in order to help the election of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

, and befriended activist

Medgar Evers Medgar Wiley Evers (; July 2, 1925June 12, 1963) was an American civil rights activist and soldier who was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. Evers, a United States Army veteran who served in World War II, was engaged in efforts ...

. He later earned his bachelor's degree in music education from

Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was established in 1869 by ...

and his master's degree from

Miami University of Ohio Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest university in Ohio and the tenth-oldest public university in the United States ...

. After completing his graduate studies, he returned to Mississippi to teach and conduct a choir at Tougaloo College. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1972 for additional graduate work at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Performing career

Honeysucker was known for his versatility as a performer in Boston's classical music scene, with the Boston Globe noting that he had “performed at one time or another with nearly all of the region’s major classical music and opera organizations, as well as with national and international ensembles.” Beginning in the 1980s, he was a regularly featured performer with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

and the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...

. By the 1990s, he was also a regular at the

Boston Lyric Opera Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976. BLO is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New England. BLO employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalist ...

, performing roles such as Stephen Kumalo in ''

Lost in the Stars ''Lost in the Stars'' is a musical theatre, musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway theatre, Broadway in 19 ...

'', by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

and

Maxwell Anderson James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Anderson faced many challenges in his career, frequently losing jobs for expressing his opinions or supporting ...

; Master Ford in

Verdi's Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, receiv ...

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

;'' and Escamillo in ''Carmen on the Common,'' a public park production of Bizet's

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

performed for an estimated 140,000 people. Other roles Honeysucker was known for include Rigoletto, Sharpless, Germont, and Iago. As an oratorio singer, he was known for performances in Mendelssohn's ''

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

'' and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

’s ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

.'' He was also passionate about the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is th ...

, presenting an annual concert of this material for many years. Honeysucker was also a voice teacher who taught on the faculties of the

Boston Conservatory Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded o ...

and the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts associated with Bard College. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston ...

Discography

Honeysucker's recording work includes a collaboration with Videmus to record five discs featuring the works of African-American composers: # ''Music of William Grant Still'' (New World) # ''Watch and Pray'' (Koch International) # ''More Still'' (Cambria) # ''Highway 1, USA'' (Wm. Grant Still, released by Albany Records) # ''Good News'' (Videmus Records)

Press mentions

Honeysucker was hailed by the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

as “a fixture of Boston’s musical landscape over some four decades.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honeysucker, Robert 1943 births 2017 deaths American operatic baritones Singers from Memphis, Tennessee Place of death missing Tougaloo College alumni Miami University alumni NAACP activists Boston Conservatory at Berklee faculty Longy School of Music of Bard College faculty Musicians from Boston American voice teachers