A tenor from Harlem New York, Noah Stewart, today took the top spot of the UK’s Classical Albums Chart (Official Charts Company) with his debut album “Noah” going straight in at No. 1. The album also entered the UK’s main Official Albums Chart as the 2nd highest new entry behind Madonna’s MDNA.
Stewart, who used to be a receptionist at New York’s Carnegie Hall, had support from the legendary Bill Cosby who contributed financially to the young singer’s musical training. Noah completed his debut run at London’s Royal Opera House last week. His album features Nearer My God to Thee, the hymn sung as the Titanic sank, as well as famous tenor arias by Puccini and Massenet alongside spirituals Deep River and Shenandoah.
Noah said of his years at the Juilliard School in New York: “I wasn’t given as many opportunities because I looked non-traditional and my voice was non-traditional. At these conservatoires the money’s on the winning horse, the horse that’s groomed.”
British black newspaper, The Voice, reported: “Stewart is on a mission to open up classical music to people of colour”
Noah will now return to the UK in May this year for a solo tour, following performances with the Michigan Opera Theater in Detroit and at the internationally renowned Glimmerglass Opera Festival on Otsego Lake.
