Grammy Award-winning and world-renowned bass opera singer Morris Robinson is set to host and curate a special one-night concert in Takoma Park on Feb. 3.
The “Morris & Friends: An Evening of Opera & Gospel” event will bridge two musical genres, with the first half featuring opera and the second half highlighting Black gospel music. The concert performance will showcase Morris Robinson’s friends and exceptional guest soloists and singers, such as soprano Brandie Sutton, soprano Michelle Bradley, tenor Aaron Crouch, countertenor and NBC’s “The Voice” Finalist John Holiday, conductor, composer, and pianist Brandon Waddles, American gospel choir Patrick Lundy & The Ministers of Music from Washington, D.C., and more.
Robinson and several other artists have local connections to the area. Following his college football career at The Citadel, Morris worked in sales at 3M before gaining attention from the Choral Arts Society of Washington, which motivated him to pursue a career in opera.
Additionally, Sutton graduated from the Catholic University of America, Crouch grew up in Bowie, and Holiday serves as an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Music.
The Anna H. Wang Concert Series has organized two public events in conjunction with the Fort Washington-based Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA), both leading up to and following the concert. The first event is a public forum featuring Morris Robinson and Brandie Sutton, which will take place on Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. at the CAAPA Cultural Center in Fort Washington.
Two free masterclasses are scheduled: one featuring Brandie Sutton on Feb. 1 at Howard University, and another with Morris Robinson on Feb. 2 at Washington Adventist University.
The concert tickets cost $35 and the event will take place at 8 p.m. on Feb. 3 at the Takoma Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church, located at 6951 Carroll Ave. in Takoma Park. For additional information about the Anna H. Wang Concert series and other related events, please visit ahwconcerts.org.
Photo Courtesy of Morris Robinson / The Anna H. Wang Concert Series