Stanley Ware, a tenor, attended Oakwood College where his musical talent was noticed by Jon Robertson. With Robertson's encouragement and a recommendation from Robertson, he was accepted at and transferred to the Juilliard School of Music where he completed an undergraduate degree. Ware completed an M.Mus. in vocal performance at Vanderbilt University and then was hired to teach and to direct the College Choir at Oakwood College in 1971.

In 1972, Ware took the choir to New York where they joined with Robertson in a performance of Verdi's Requiem, one that led A New York Times reviewer to observe that "The Oakwood College Chorus would have done justice to any performance of the Verdi Requiem in the world."

Ware signed a contract with the Metropolitan Opera in 1989. He made his debut and gave his only performance at the Metropolitan Opera House on November 24, 1990 in a matinee where he played the role of Peter in Porgy and Bess. He became gravely ill shortly after that and died three years later.

ds 2006