Bass-baritone Marcus Simmons -- a conductor, voice teacher, worship coach and Emmy Award-winner -- will perform a recital featuring a historic overview of African-American songs from the field to the concert stage at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, in 11 Tyler Hall on the SUNY Oswego campus.
The concert is part of the university's Ke-Nekt Chamber Music Series, presented by the SUNY Oswego Music Department and ARTSwego Performing Arts Series.
Hailing from Philadelphia, Simmons has sung for dignitaries including former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and alongside internationally acclaimed performers Simon Estes, Carol Vaness and Karen Slack.
Simmons has bowed on concert stages from Carnegie Hall and the Saigon Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, to the Queensland Performing Arts Center with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.
He has performed over 25 opera roles and has also performed several concert works and opera roles by composers old and new like John Cooper, Howard Helvey and Jake Heggie.
Simmons has performed residencies, masterclasses and recitals at universities across the United States and was recently the artistic director of the Hoosier Community Chorus and the Music Program Director at 1525 The Warehouse in Bloomington, Indiana.
Tickets are free for SUNY Oswego students; $5 for non-SUNY Oswego students, $12 for faculty/staff/alumni and $15 for the general public, available via tickets.oswego.edu or any campus box office.
For more information on performing and visual arts events on the SUNY Oswego campus, visit the ARTSwego website.