The William Warfield Scholarship Fund, Inc. (WWSF) Board of Directors proudly invites you to attend its 49th Annual Benefit Concert on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. This year’s event, themed “Let Freedom Dream,” will feature current Eastman student Darrin John Nicholson II ’28E, baritone, alongside a stellar lineup of acclaimed performers, including award-winning soprano Kearstin Piper Brown; WWSF President Emeritus, artist, and pianist Thomas Warfield; GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist and flutist Jimmie Highsmith Jr.; School of the Arts (SOTA) Jazz Ensemble; and award-winning anchor and investigative reporter for News10 NBC/WHEC-TV Deanna Dewberry returns as Concert Emcee.

This year’s concert will also feature the presentation of the 2026 William Warfield Legacy Award to Opera Ebony Co-Founder and pianist Wayne Sanders for his leadership, achievements, and distinguished contributions to the development of African American artists aspiring to careers in classical vocal performance and more. Opera Ebony is the longest continuously operated Black Opera Company in the world co-founded in 1973 by Sanders. As part of the celebration, Sanders will participate in a special pre-concert chat at 3:00 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall, with Julia Figueras, former Music Director and mid-day host for WXXI Classical.

“Creating environments that empower our youth to dream and never stop dreaming has never been more important,” says WWSF President Lolita Forsett. This year’s concert theme, “Let Freedom Dream,” aims to deliver the message: The sky is still the limit. Forsett continues, “Through music and community, we aim to inspire the next generation to envision a future without limits. We will celebrate and showcase vision, resilience, and the boundless opportunities that come when we dare to dream.”

By choosing to attend this special benefit concert, patrons will also have access to the 3:00 p.m. pre-concert chat with Wayne Sanders and a meet & greet reception immediately following the performance in Miller Center’s Sproull Atrium.

Tickets are $50 (plus box office fees) and $10 for students with a University of Rochester ID. They may be purchased online, in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office (located at 433 East Main Street; hours: M-F 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.), or by calling 585-274-3000.

Please consider supporting the WWSF by donating here. For more information, visit the William Warfield Scholarship Fund.

Media Only:

Jamila Evans Rogers, Marketing Chair, William Warfield Scholarship Fund
(585) 485-3388, jhrogers25@gmail.com

Lauren Sageer, Associate Director of Public Relations and Digital Content
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu

Lolita Forsett, President of the Board, William Warfield Scholarship Fund
(585) 202-3686, info@williamwarfield.com

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Artists participating in the Scholarship Fund Concert include:

Darrin John Nicholson II ’28E, a baritone from Nashville, TN, is currently in his second year at the Eastman School of Music, studying Music Performance under Professor Robert Swensen. Darrin was most recently seen as Luther Harlow in the Eastman Opera Theater production of In a Grove. He spent the summer of 2025 studying in Italy under some of the most prominent performers and educators in the world. His solo performances include Bach Cantata BWV 90 (Bass Solo), Mozart Solo Missa Brevis KV 192 (Bass Solo), and featured soloist for Five Mystical Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY. He is a member of the Eastman Chorale under Director William Weinert and has also served in several church choirs throughout the Rochester area.

Kearstin Piper Brown, an American soprano, has been praised by Variety as “mesmerizing” and by The Wall Street Journal as “eloquent,” earning recognition on opera and concert stages around the world. This season she returns to the Metropolitan Opera covering Bess in Porgy and Bess, makes her Utah Opera debut as Wendy Torrance in The Shining, and appears in concerts with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Cantori NYC, and the Tulsa Symphony. She also reprises Poppea in The Comet/Poppea.

Recent highlights include Alice Ford in Falstaff with Portland Opera, Mimì in La Bohème with Opera San José and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and featured performances at Lincoln Center with the American Modern Opera Company. She is widely acclaimed for her work in contemporary opera, including award-winning acclaim for Lynn Nottage and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center Theater.

Brown has performed leading roles with major opera companies and has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and with orchestras across the U.S. and Europe. She serves as Board Chair of the Gateways Music Festival and as a Board Member of the William Warfield Scholarship Fund.

Thomas Warfield, an international performing artist, has lived in six countries. He is founder/artistic director of PeaceArt, a 35-year-old global peace organization. Thomas Warfield is Professor of Practice and has been Director of Dance at the Rochester Institute of Technology for 27 years. He is recipient of numerous awards, including the U.S. Congressional Recognition Award, NYS Senate Commendation Award, United Nations Peace Award, City of Rochester Unsung Hero Award, Eastman School of Music Centennial Award, National Dance Education Award, and Off-Off Broadway Award, among others. He has served on many boards: Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, World Dance Alliance (Hong Kong), ARTWalk, Rochester Arts Council, Greentopia, Rochester City Ballet, Gateways Music Festival, Muccc Theatre, Rochester Fringe Festival, NY Dance Festival, co-chair of the City of Rochester’s AC3 committee, and was a former president of the William Warfield Scholarship Fund. His first solo album, Celebrate the Moment, can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

Jimmie Highsmith Jr., also known as Tjari, is a GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist and flutist with critical acclaim, hailing from Rochester, NY. He has released 11 top selling smooth Jazz CDs and contributed to over 200 recordings as a collaborator. His sixth CD The Anthology of Sound was honored with a GRAMMY nomination, and his work is recognized as being among the best in the Smooth Jazz genre.  He has also dedicated 41 years to martial arts training in Tae Kwondo and Aki Jujitsu, achieving a Black Belt rank. Additionally, Highsmith Jr. is the CEO/Managing Partner of Xperience Live Music Group LLC and proudly served for ten years in the US Air Force.

Wayne Sanders, co-founder and music director of the famed Opera Ebony since its inception, is a coach and pianist. Sanders has collaborated and performed with Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, Florence Quivar, Kearstin Brown, Donnie Ray Albert, Gregory Sheppard, George Shirley, Benjamin Matthews, and the late William Warfield.  He has been consultant to the Houston Grand Opera, Finland’s Savonlinna Opera Festival, and Munich’s Münchener Biennale; provided musical direction for presentations ranging from an all-star tribute to Marian Anderson at Aaron Davis Hall in New York, NY to Porgy and Bess in Helsinki and Savonlinna, Moscow, and Tallinn.

Co-founder of Opera Ebony, a historic African American opera company based in New York, Sanders has participated in touring performances of Opera Ebony’s acclaimed Black Heritage concert series and served as its conductor over the course of its international run in Canada, Iceland, and Switzerland. He has been responsible for the musical preparation of numerous premieres, including Dorothy Rudd Moore’s Frederick Douglass, Perfect Harmony by Heikki Sarmanto, Harriet Tubman by Leo Edwards, and most recently, Anthony Knight’s No Cowards in Our Band. Sanders has been music consultant to Syracuse Opera and Hudson Hall and is a former member of the music faculty of Sarah Lawrence College. In 2025 he was inducted into the Opera America Hall of Fame. A native of Chicago, he holds degrees in piano performance from Roosevelt University.

The School of the Arts (SOTA) Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Michael Van Allen, showcases the talent and passion of young musicians dedicated to excellence. These students are not only gifted artists but also committed scholars, balancing a full academic course load with a rigorous fine arts sequence in instrumental or vocal music.

Admission to SOTA is highly selective, requiring auditions that demonstrate both skill and dedication. Beyond the classroom, ensemble members devote countless hours to extracurricular activities, sharing their artistry with the community through concerts and exhibitions. Throughout the year, they bring vibrant performances to audiences across Rochester, showcasing not only technical mastery but also the creativity and discipline that define the School of the Arts experience.

Deanna Dewberry is a multi-award-winning anchor and investigative reporter with more than two decades of experience in television news. Dewberry is a dedicated advocate for breast cancer research, and her advocacy has earned her 12 regional Emmy Awards, which included being named the region’s top consumer reporter.

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About the William Warfield Scholarship Fund:

The William Warfield Scholarship Fund (WWSF) was formed in March 1977 (incorporated in 1979) under the leadership of Anastasia L. “Tessa” Martin to honor the life and legacy of William Warfield. We are a 16-member board, 100% volunteer operated with no paid personnel.

WWSF is dedicated to guiding African American students toward success in the field of classical vocal music while fostering wider recognition of the life and legacy of William Warfield.

About William Warfield:

William Warfield, born January 22, 1920, grew up in Rochester, NY.  He graduated from Rochester city schools and earned a New York state cosmetology license. During his senior high school year, he won the National Music Educators League Competition and a full scholarship to any American music school of his choice. William chose the Eastman School of Music, where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1942 and 1946. 

Warfield was known worldwide for his work as a soloist, recitalist, actor, narrator and activist. He was acclaimed throughout the world as one of the great vocal artists of our time, was a star in every field open to a singer’s art and was one of the world’s leading experts on Negro Spirituals and German Lieder. Best known for his portrayals of Porgy in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and of Joe, the dock hand, in the movie Showboat, he won a GRAMMY in 1984 for his narration of Aaron Copland’s A Lincoln Portrait accompanied by the Eastman Philharmonia. In 1991, he published his uncommonly personal memoir, My Music & My Life.

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