For School of Music alumnus and internationally-lauded singer Sidney Outlaw ’04, sharing Black history through art is not only a joy but a responsibility, and one he takes seriously.
And, impeccably timed for Black History Month, he has just released his first solo album, shortly after appearing on Greensboro’s Tanger Center stage as “Jake” in “Porgy and Bess.” And, it was No. 2 on the Billboard classical album chart on Feb. 8.
“I’ve always been inspired by Nina Simone’s quote that ‘It is the artists’ duty to reflect the times,’” Outlaw said between rehearsals, his friendly baritone filled with fresh urgency. “I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself, and at this crucial time in our lives when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I think you can’t help but be involved. That, to me, is the definition of an artist.”
Outlaw’s album title, “Lament,” originated from a lecture he gave at Ithaca College on exploring the legacy of Black composers in art song and opera, and also comes from “Lament for Dark Peoples,” a Langston Hughes poem that addresses the pain of injustice experienced by people of color. Hughes is a favorite poet of Outlaw, who has also performed “Harlem Renaissance: song cycle on Langston Hughes poems,” a musical version of 10 Hughes poems about civil rights and life in Harlem in the 1960s.
“Lament,” from Lexicon Classics, is a live recording from the Brevard Music Center. It features pianist Warren Jones and works by Black composers and writers, about urban life in New York City or about life in the South. It includes poetry by leading Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay, whose words address lynching, an aria by pioneering female composer Dorothy Rudd Moore, and parts of Frederick Douglass’ Fourth of July speech.
“It’s part of American history,” Outlaw said. “It’s a part of our quilt – sharing Black stories, sharing our perspective, sharing how we deal with things in our community and how we live – that is American history. We need to give our perspective and tell that story through our lenses, and provide our contexts.”
As Outlaw’s career grows, so does his relationship with one of his most beloved UNCG mentors, Levone Tobin-Scott, whose guidance he finds valuable in his new position as a professor at the James J. Whalen School of Music at Ithaca College.
“She’s been my mentor – is still my mentor,” he said. “And now I talk to her about not only thinking, but how to navigate being an academic. She helps guide me through juggling being a performer and an artist teacher.”
Outlaw has performed recently at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Opera San Jose, the Nashville Opera, and at the Brevard Music Center. Before that, the San Francisco Opera, Atlanta and Arizona and Minnesota Operas, Baltimore Symphony and countless other opera and classical music stages nationally and internationally. He’s also been a Grammy nominee, for the Naxos Records recording of “L’Orestie d’Eschyle.” This season, in addition to teaching, Outlaw is set to perform at the Pensacola Opera, and Florentine Opera in works by Rossini, Puccini, and Gershwin. Learn more about his album in his appearance on the inaugural episode of Emitha Studio Talks.
Story by Susan Kirby-Smith, University Communications
Photography by Martin W. Kane, University Communications; album image courtesy of the artist.
