1. Morris DeRhon Robinson was born on March 18,1969 and is an American bass opera singer and former All-American college football player who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, at Carnegie Hall, at La Scala in Milan, Italy, at the Sydney Opera House and in numerous other opera houses throughout the United States and internationally.
Morris Robinson has served as an artistic advisor to the Cincinnati Opera, artist-in-residence for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Resident Artist at Harvard University.
Morris Robinson was the first African-American artist to sign with a major classical record label.
Morris Robinson was a member of the Atlanta Boy Choir and attended the Northside School for the Performing Arts where he excelled in both sports and music.
Morris Robinson's desire to play college football resulted in accepting a scholarship to play for The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina where he was a three-time 1-AA All American offensive lineman, graduating in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in English.
Morris Robinson became famous as "The Singing Knob" for his impromptu serenades for fellow cadets and for his performance of "O Holy Night" at the annual Christmas candlelight concert.
Morris Robinson co-founded and sang in the school's gospel chorus.
Morris Robinson's talent was featured in Sports Illustrated and on CBS Sports College Football Today.
Morris Robinson is a member of the Beta Mu chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Morris Robinson's singing attracted the attention of Associate Professor Sharon Daniels at the Boston University Opera Institute, who encouraged him to apply; he entered the program in 1999.
Morris Robinson has performed with opera companies in St Louis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Dallas and Sydney, Australia.
Recently Morris Robinson has broadened his career by performing in musicals.
Morris Robinson has performed regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic as well as with the symphony orchestras in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Nashville, Fort Worth, Montreal, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Morris Robinson has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and performed Verdi's Requiem with the City of London Sinfonia at Royal Albert Hall.
Morris Robinson was the second person named as artist-in-residence for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and in 2017 was named an artistic advisor for the Cincinnati Opera.
Morris Robinson was the first black artist to sign a recording deal with a major classical label; his first album Going Home was released in 2007 by Decca Records.
Morris Robinson has appeared on the NBC Today Show and been featured in interviews on NPR, the BBC and CSN International; he has been profiled in numerous major publications including USA Today, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Morris Robinson played in the 2022 movie 'The Magic Flute' with F Murray Abraham and Jack Wolfe.