Robert Todd Duncan (1903-1998) was an American baritone.

Duncan was born in Danville, Kentucky. He was George Gershwin's personal choice as the first performed of the role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess in 1935. Duncan played the role more than 1,800 times. He was also the first performer for the role of Stephen Kumalo in Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars and was a noted concert singer. Duncan taught voice at Howard University in Washington, D.C. for more than fifty years.

He obtained his musical training at Butler University in Indianapolis with a B.A. in music followed by an M.A. from Columbia University Teachers College. In 1933, Duncan debuted in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the Mecca Temple in New York. In 1945, he became the first African American to sing with a major opera company singing the role of Tonio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci with the New York City Opera Company. In the same year he sang as Escamillio in Bizet's Carmen.

While teaching at Howard, he continued touring as a solist with concert pianist William Allen. He retired and opened his own voice studio giving periodic recitals. In 1978, the Washington Performing Arts Society presented his seventy-fifth birthday gala.

References

The Music of Black Americans: A History. Eileen Southern. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. ISBN 0393971414