Detroit, MI (December 23, 2003) - On Monday, January 19, Delta Omicron Professional Music Fraternity and Wayne State University's Department of Music will present the Tenth Annual African American Composers Concert at 3:00 PM in the Schaver Music Recital Hall of the Old Main Building at Wayne State University. Admission is complimentary.

The concert is held in the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and celebrates African American culture through music. George Shirley, internationally renowned tenor of the Metropolitan Opera, a WSU alumnus, and a National Patron of Delta Omicron, will be the featured performer. Performers from Wayne State University include Dr. Robert Conway, distinguished pianist and Professor at Wayne State, and Professor Dennis J. Tini, jazz pianist and Chair of the Department of Music. There will also be performances by groups from the Detroit School of Fine/Performing Arts and Shrine Catholic High School of Royal Oak. The music contains a variety of styles composed by African Americans.

The Delta Theta Chapter of Delta Omicron Professional Music Fraternity has helped organize the concert for ten years. Starting as a student recital, the concert has grown over the years to feature performers such as renowned jazz artist Marcus Belgrave and Celeste Headlee, vocalist and granddaughter of renowned composer William Grant Still. In 2002, the Delta Theta Chapter received two awards from the Professional Fraternity Association: the Outstanding Community Service Award and the Outstanding Professional Program Award. The latter was awarded for the chapter's organization of the African American Composers Concert.

Located in the heart of the Detroit Cultural Center, the Wayne State University Department of Music is celebrating 85 years of excellence in music. The department's faculty includes renowned jazz artists, composers, and members of the internationally acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra. WSU alumni have gone on to careers in distinguished orchestras, ensembles and as soloists and music educators the world over.

For more information, please contact the Delta Theta Chapter or the Music Department at (313) 577-1795.