Internationally-renowned baritone, Carl DuPont, curates and performs the inaugural concert in the Rochester Oratorio Society's Arts Connexions series, which features performances of music, dance, storytelling, oral history, and art by BIPOC creators with strong local connections.

"The Reaction: Spirituals, Art Songs, and Gospel Music by Black Composers" features solo vocal music, readings of texts by Maya Angelou, L. Lamar Wilson, Ta-Nehisi Coates and others, storytelling by Gwendolyn Glenn, and piano solo works by Gregory Thompson, who accompanies Mr. DuPont.

Arts Connexions sustains and extends ROS's tradition as a home for BIPOC performers and creators since William Warfield's day. Carl DuPont, an alumnus of the Eastman School of Music, maintains an active schedule of professional appearance on world stages. As a consultant, he assists organizations with inclusion and diversity. He teaches at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.