Grammy Winner Mark S. Doss performs solo recital at New York's Baruch Performing Arts Center, May 16th

Global opera star returns to America with recital concert dates announced for New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut; follows on lauded performance in Tosca

NEW YORK, April 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Q: Who is Mark Steven Doss? Is he... John the Baptist or Méphistophélès? Performing spirituals or Baroque Oratorio? From West Point or the seminary? Preaching from a pulpit or inspiring audiences from the stages of the world's most prestigious opera houses? The right voice or the wrong voice? The right ethnic background or the wrong one?

Embodying these dualities during his lifetime, Mr. Doss has successfully woven the contrasts together into a celebrated operatic career spanning three decades. Performing nearly 100 stage roles to date with 60-plus major opera companies worldwide, his talents have taken the North American bass baritone from New York City Opera and Chicago Lyric to La Scala and London's Covent Garden. Now local audiences will have the opportunity to hear the international opera star's powerful voice in a special series of performances.

Grammy Award winner, former Metropolitan Opera Finalist Winner, 1st Prize Winner of the International Verdi Competition and recipient of the National Institute for Music Theatre's George London Opera Prize, opera star Mark S. Doss returns to New York City to perform a solo recital at the Baruch Performing Arts Center on May 16, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Doss will be joined for the performance by Russian pianist, Artist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, and winner of the 2016 New York Concert Artists Worldwide Debut Audition, Vyacheslav Gryaznov. Both are artists-in-residence at The Drozdoff Society.

"Mr. Doss found a compelling ministry when he answered the call to sing; I have not often found such a perfect marriage of voice, bearing, acting of the highest order, intelligence, humility, musicianship, integrity, and generosity of spirit in one performer," said Natasha Cherny, Founder of The Drozdoff Society.

Part of The Drozdoff Society's Impromptu! Classical Music Recital Series, Mr. Doss' program will include both classical and contemporary repertoire, encompassing five languages and genres and several musical epochs. The New York performance is in the first leg of Mr. Doss' four-state solo recital series with the society from May 13th through to 22nd, with engagements in New Haven, CT, Stamford, CT, Baltimore, MD, and Red Bank, NJ (additional details are provided below).

Recent acclaim for Scarpia performance in Tosca

Celebrated by critics and audiences for his signature performances as Méphistophélès in Faust, Amonasro in Aida, and the title roles in Verdi's Macbeth and The Flying Dutchman, Mr. Doss has received universal praise for his recent portrayal as the villainous Baron Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca with the Welsh National Opera (WNO) this past winter-spring. Of note:

"As for Scarpia, American Mark S Doss was quite brilliant in the role - which is undoubtedly one of the greatest in opera. A strong punchy baritone, he chewed up the stage with an elegant but menacing flamboyance - at times fastidious, at times revelling in his forthcoming conquest - not to mention a suitably louche silk morning coat. He was overall the best Scarpia I have seen performed live, mixing beauty with brutality."
- Will Frampton, Bournemouth Daily Echo, Friday, March 23, 2018

"Mark S Doss, however, is spot-on as Scarpia, avarice and evil wrapped up in swagger, menace and dangerous charm."
- Rebecca Franks, The Times of London, February 13, 2018

"Mark S Doss's Scarpia achieves more by means of a dark solid core to his tone and a manner that combines some of the suavity and sadism required for this iconic operatic villain."
- George Hall, The Stage, February 13, 2018

Media and industry recognition

In recent years, Mr. Doss' performances and storied career have earned him significant media attention. TV appearances include ABC, NBC, FOX, KPBS, CBC Television, CBC News Toronto, Rogers, and OMNI, as well as an array of print and radio interviews (The Chicago Sun-Times, The National Post, The Toronto Star, NPR-KUSC Los Angeles, WUSF Tampa, and Radio Canada International, amongst others).

Mr. Doss is also a recipient of the prestigious Entertainment Award from Planet Africa, recognizing his achievements both as an artist and for being a positive role model for youth, both in Canada and the United States. Appreciative of his tremendous success, Mr. Doss always finds time to share with the communities in which he lives and works, presenting master classes and teaching apprentice artists. He also donates his time and talents to fundraising concerts for churches and opera companies.

Recital dates, locations

Mr. Doss performs at the Baruch Performing Arts Center on May 16, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. ET, in the Rosalyn and Irwin Engelman Recital Hall, 55 Lexington Avenue, New York City. Tickets are available at the box office, online or by calling 212-352-3101.

Other scheduled performances in Mr. Doss' four-state solo recital series with The Drozdoff Society (May 13-22, 2018) include:

• First Presbyterian ("Fish") Church of Stamford and PROJECT MUSIC in Stamford, Connecticut (May 13 and May 22);
• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's OrchKids in Baltimore, Maryland (May 14 and 15);
• Lyric Hall Theater and the Truman School in New Haven, Connecticut (May 17 and 21); and
• Classical Music at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Red Bank, New Jersey (May 19, 2018).

Please call 347-224-7577 for information about the announced recitals.

You can connect with Mark S. Doss through his Facebook fan page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Mark-S-Doss/78423203990), watch his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/marksdoss) and follow him @marksdoss on Twitter (http://twitter.com/marksdoss).

Mark S. Doss (www.marksdoss.com) is a celebrated bass-baritone whose accomplishments include a Grammy Award for his work on the recording of Semele (Handel), and numerous engagements with the famous Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Mr. Doss began his musical studies to aid in his ambitions to become a Catholic priest, but instead found opera to be his true calling. He has since emerged as one of the opera world's leading singers, performing nearly 100 stage roles to date with more than 60 major opera companies around the globe.