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Concert: “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” with DeAndre Simmons
March 2 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
DeAndre Simmons will be preforming songs, arias and spirituals from black composers from over the ages. He and pianist, Ken Anderson, will bring you through the decades of music that has changed our American culture.
Tickets $25
American bass, DeAndre Simmons, having been hailed as being the performances “class act” by the Los Angeles Times, continues to gain recognition for his beautifully velvet voice, incisive musicianship and captivating stage presence. He has performed with such great opera houses and orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, San Diego Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl under Maestro Gustavo Dudamel and Bramwell Tovey, Columbia Pro Cantare, Opera Panama, Pacific Opera Victoria, Castleton Festival under Maestro Lorin Maazel, Santa Barbara Symphony, London Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern and others throughout Europe and the U.K. He performs a healthy mix of opera and concert repertoire ranging from Handel to Mozart to Rossini and to Verdi and Wagner.
In addition to his operatic roles, DeAndre regularly performs both plays and musicals. Most recently starring as the Narrator in EVERY BRILLIANT THING (CCAE Theatricals) and Montrellous in CLYDES(Moxie Theatre). His recent musical credits include Boatman in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGEand Ken in AINT MISBEHAVIN,(CCAE Theatricals), Caiaphas in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and Kerchak in TARZAN(Moonlight Theatre). Other theatre credits include playing Malvolio in TWELFTH NIGHT, Father in CHILDREN OF EDEN. His portrayal of Sweeney Todd in Sondheim’s masterpiece SWEENEY TODD(San Diego Musical Theatre)was voted TOP TEN BEST SHOWS in San Diego 2024 by the San Diego Union Tribune and he was nominated for a Craig Noel Award for “Best lead performance in a musical.” He ended the year playeing Professor Bhear in LITTLE WOMEN (Moxie Theatre). Having spent years under the tutelage of the great Barbara Cook, he frequently performs the music of musical theatre and the American Songbook in recitals, pops concerts and cabaret. DeAndre’s 2024/2025 season include an American Songbook recital with Opera in the Park Portland, Marchese/Baron in LA TRAVIATA (Opera in the Park Portland), Sweeney Todd in SWEENEY TODD(SDMT), First Soldier in SALOME and Marchese D’Obigny in
LA TRAVIATA (San Diego Opera), Count in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (Greenville Symphony) and a recital tour of arias, songs and spirituals by composers of the African Diaspora titled “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” in Portland, OR, San Diego, Chicago and Philadelphia. Also Soloist in Verdi’s REQUIEM with the Modesto Symphony. He rounds out his season with both lieder and American songbook recitals around the country.
An alumnus of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, DeAndre is a pupil of Fred Carama and has been protégé of James Morris, Dame Kirk Te Kanawa and Barbara Cook for musical theatre.
IG:@DeAndresVoice / www.DeAndreSimmons.com
Ken Anderson has been a music instructor, trainer, adjudicator, director, and performer in San Diego
for several decades. He is the director of the USD Gospel Choir, UCSD Gospel Choir, and Martin
Luther King Jr. Community Choir San Diego (MLK Choir). Ken and the MLK Choir have performed
throughout America and 9 countries abroad. Ken has also performed as a soloist with the San Diego
Opera and productions of Showboat and Jesus Christ Super Star with local theaters. He is also adjunct
faculty at City College and two of their high school satellite campuses, teaching the history of black
music in America.
