American tenor soloist for the Robert Shaw Chorale.

Early performing experiences included playing trumpet in the bands of Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder and as both trumpet player and musical director for Cab Calloway.

In New York in the 1950s and 1960s he performed as a singer and actor in "Shinbone Alley" and "Carmen Jones."

On Broadway, Mr. Roberts was musical director and conductor for the Tony Award-winning musical "Raisin," the 1976 revival of "Guys and Dolls," "Comin' Uptown," "The Wiz" and "Trumpets of the Lord" and was choral arranger for "The Great White Hope."

TV credits as musical director or conductor include "The Strolling '20s," "Belafonte at the O'Keefe Center" and variety series "The Leslie Uggams Show" on CBS; and "The Duke Ellington Special" and "Alvin Ailey: Memories and Visions" onPBS. He drew Emmy nominations for 1972's "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" and 1983's "In Performance at the White House," both on PBS. His compositions include original scores for television, including "Cindy" on ABC, "Ten Blocks on the Camino Real" and "Black New World" on PBS, as well as the original score for the feature film "Lord Shango."

Roberts produced recordings at Columbia Records for Tony Bennett, Diahann Carroll, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Rhetta Hughes, Bobby Scott, Barbra Streisand and Simon Estes. He also worked as arranger and/or conductor on recordings for Estes, as well as Lena Horne, Michel Legrand, Galt McDermott, the Roy Meriwether Trio, Billy Taylor, Pat Williams and the Broadway cast albums for "Raisin" and "Guys and Dolls." He conceived, produced and conducted albums under