Press release

 SWEET SINGER PRESS RELEASE

 On (date)__________ internationally known baritone, Steven Kimbrough, one of America's most recorded baritone singers, will present a one-person musical drama entitled, Sweet Singer, about the eighteenth-century poet/priest, Charles Wesley, author of the famous Christmas carol, Hark! the herald angels sing. Kimbrough premiered the musical drama to a sold-out house at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1985 and since then has toured the USA, Europe, and Asia with the work in over 500 performances.

 Over the past few years through a musical career which was centered mainly in Europe, he fast became one of America’s most recorded baritone voices with releases on the EMI (Electrola), CBS (Columbia), ACANTA/PILZ, KOCH-SCHWANN, CAPRICCIO, ARABESQUE, ANKER MUSIK, SONY, and VMS labels.

 Kimbrough's voice has been praised as “magnificent” (Journal de Genève, Switzerland), “mellow, dramatic, elegant” (New York Times), “pure liquid gold” (The Birmingham Post Herlald), and his acting as “brilliant” (Richmond Review, Vancouver) and “captivating” (Stadt Anzeiger, Cologne, Germany).

 He has performed on the operatic, concert and musical states of North and South America Europe, and Asia including: New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Miami, Detroit, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Bonn, Hamburg, Barcelona, Turin, London, and Singapore. He has sung over forty operatic roles and twenty-two world premieres of contemporary operas.

 Kimbrough is well known as a recital and concert singer through many appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and with symphonies in the USA and abroad. His recital under the title Forbidden Composers in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City won wide acclaim. 

Two of his many recordings have received nominations by Ovation magazine as Best Solo Record of the Year. His most recent recordings include Songs of the Wild West and Korngold’s Hollywood Songbook with distinguished pianist Dalton Baldwin. Kimbrough has a number of recordings on the KOCH/SCHWANN label: (1) Songs of Schönberg, Korngold, Schreker and Weigl, (2) Songs of Wilhelm Kienzl, (3) Songs of Heinrich Marschner, (4) Classics from Hollywood to Broadway with the Cologne (Germany) Radio Orchestra, and (5) Kurt Weill on Broadway with the Hessian Radio Orchestra (Frankfurt, Germany). Most recently VMS Records released Kimbrough’s CD The Art of American Song: Songs of the Wild West (2005). Korngold’s Hollywood Songbook (2006). 

A regular guest on European radio and television networks, he has starred in musical films for television and has portrayed leading roles in many musicals such as Man of La Mancha, Pacific, Carousel, and Annie Get Your Gun. For a number of years he has appeared in Christmas/Advent musical TV special programs of the ZDF Network in Germany. 

Kimbrough is also the author/editor of over thirty books and numerous articles on such subjects as voice, music, theology, church history and missions, and biblical studies. His books about Charles Wesley include: (1) The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, 3 vols., (2) Lost in Wonder, (3) Sweet Singer (piano-vocal book), and (4) A Song for the Poor, (5) Charles Wesley: Poet and Theologian, (6) A Heart to Praise My God, (7) Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality, (8) Orthodox and Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding and Practice. He is Associate General Secretary for Mission Evangelism of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church and holds a doctorate in Old Testament and Semitic languages from Princeton. 

The baritone will be accompanied by [name to be supplied]. 

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WHAT THE CRITICS SAY 

"A magnificent baritone!" Journal de Genève 

"A remarkable singer with a cultivated, easily flowing baritone of fine quality and a rare command of words and rhythms." The New Yorker

 "Mellow, dramatic, elegant vocal art." New York Times

 "At Carnegie Hall in New York City Steven Kimbrough, a gifted artist of prodigious memory, fine vocal talent, and exceptional acting ability, captivated his audience with his vocal renditions of Charles Wesley through spoken word and song." New York News Day

"An internationally respected singer, Kimbrough has netted considerable praise with his performances of the piece since it opened at Carnegie Hall in 1985. It's easy to understand the accolades. Kimbrough is a talented baritone whose obvious technical ability was enhanced last night by equally obvious spiritual inspiration." The Orange County Register (Los Angeles, CA)

 "And for a while Charles Wesley lived once more. Steven Kimbrough brings Charles Wesley to life." Birmingham Post-Herald (Birmingham, AL)

 "Kimbrough touched me with the words of the poems he told each of the children. Wesley's poetry is simply beautiful. Kimbrough's voice is strong and filled with authority, and he moved about the small stage easily. The script placed key emphasis on church, throne, England, family, Native Americans, America, and most of all, faith. And yet, Kimbrough also allowed his character a sense of good humor." Monitor (McAllen, Texas) 

"A clarity, precision, and control to be envied and emulated. His enunciation is so sharp that one needs no song sheet to ponder Wesley's lyrics." Charisma Magazine

 "Lovely singing by noted baritone Steven Kimbrough." Billboard 

"'O for a thousand tongues to sing' is strikingly modern and lovely. . . . Kimbrough's voice is pure liquid gold." The Birmingham News (Birmingham, AL) 

"Kimbrough has a richly endowed, variable, and sensitive baritone voice. Furthermore, he possesses the intellectual and spiritual depth, necessary to portray Wesley authentically. With a wide range of possibilities Kimbrough slipped into the costume and role of Charles Wesley and portrayed his life and the origin of his songs/hymns in dramatic action and dialogue. Through letters, other writings, and poetry Kimbrough presented Wesley as a passionate fighter against the social injustice of his time and as a priest who saw in the love of God the salvation of the world." General Anzeiger (Bonn, Germany)

 "His articulation of Wesley's words is remarkable because he seems to know what the words are trying to say . . . Churchmanship and musicianship come across in virtually equal measure." The United Methodist Reporter (Dallas, TX)