Louis Roney
Opera Star/Tenor
1921 - 2017
Inducted in 2012
Biography
An international opera/concert/movie star for more than 40 years, Louis Roney sang leading tenor roles, in four languages in major opera houses around the world and made two movies of opera: Carmen ( Montreal) and The Tales of Hoffman (Paris). Roney was honored with a tribute in the Congressional Record of the 112th Congress of the United States for his outstanding contributions to the State of Florida and the arts. Louis said, "The artist's life is a 'giving' proposition, and if giving is more blessed than receiving, the artist is more blest than those who enjoy his art."
Louis Roney was headlined "A Tenor in The Grand Style" by The New York Times and his singing proved it. Roney was the first American tenor ever to sing in Italy's greatest opera festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in Florence. He sang the American premiere of Massenet's Marie Magdeleine in New York's Lincoln Center. In the Hartford, Connecticut Arena he sang the largest Aida's ever! In 1984 Roney founded Festival of Orchestras, a concert series bringing the greatest symphony orchestras of the world to Central Florida.
He also raised large amounts of money for music student scholarships. At the end of a long worldwide singing career, Roney was honored as a Distinguished Professor and taught for 24 years at the University of Central Florida. For 30 years as a writer, Roney published hundreds of columns of "Play On!" a newspaper article dedicated to cultural affairs. His most ardent commitment was the promoting of great music in everything he did.
