DeAndre Simmons, bass, has gained international recognition for his wide-ranging repertoire of concert and operatic performances in the U.S. and Europe. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he also studied at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Honors accorded him include First Place Prize in both the George London Foundation Vocal Competition and the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, and he has been featured at Carnegie Hall in recitals and workshops, with the Opera Company of Philadelphia in the East Coast premiere of David DiChiera’s opera Cyrano, in The Beggar’s Opera by Benjamin Britten under Lorin Maazel, in Regina with the Pacific Opera Victoria, and with the Music Academy of the West Orchestra in both Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait and the West Coast premiere of A Wedding by William Bolcom. He sang the Shepherd Boy in a recording of Tosca, performed in Aida, Carmen, Tosca, and Porgy & Bess, was a principal in the West Coast revival of A Bayou Legend by William Grant Still, and has sung for noted mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar (also his mentor). His singing credits in musicals including Showboat, Ain’t Misbehavin, The Wiz, Dream Girls, and Sweet Charity (in which he was also principal dancer), and his many television guest appearances and commercials include The Cosby Show and Sesame Street.