The Ohio State University at Marion is welcoming internationally acclaimed baritone Anthony Brown to Morrill Hall Auditorium, Thursday, April 24, 7:30 p.m., as a Five Nights on Campus extra.

A promoter of peace and goodwill around the world and across the United States, Anthony Brown's music critics have referred to him as "a warm and noble baritone." While he sings the standard classical repertoire, he has made a specialty of singing music of the American experience. He uses spirituals and other American songs as a tool to assist in the process of healing and reconciliation. In this internationally acclaimed show, Brown pays tribute to the universal themes of sorrow, struggle, and hope that even today touch people of all races, religious backgrounds, and cultures.

As an ambassador of goodwill, he has traveled to such countries as Bosnia, Northern Ireland, China, Japan, South Korea, Moldova, Russia, Uganda and Ethiopia to encourage peace and hope.

Mr. Brown uses music as well as the spoken word to challenge and inspire. A major thrust of his work has been to bring people together across the divides of race, culture, ethnicity, and religion to find common ground. In 2006, he was honored in the country of Uganda when he laid the cornerstone for the Anthony Brown Baritone Comprehensive School in the war torn area of Pader. Most recently, he established a not-for-profit organization to advance his peace work. The organization is called the Peacing it Together Foundation.

He is currently Artist in Residence at Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas.

Five Nights is an outreach and engagement program for residents of the campus's seven-county regional service area, which includes Crawford, Delaware, Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Union, and Wyandot Counties. The Ohio State program provides unique cultural and educational opportunities to the community, while encouraging area residents to take part in university life. This series features a variety of entertainment styles, with the opportunity for the audience to meet with the artists following each performance. Five Nights offers an affordable entertainment venue close to home. The series, which began in autumn 1995, is in its thirteenth year with another diverse group of performances.

Tickets for Celebrating the African-American Spiritual with Anthony Brown are available in advance or at the door: $10 for adults, $9 for seniors (60 and older), and $4 for students. Marion campus faculty and staff, which includes all Ohio State Marion and Marion Technical College personnel, are eligible for $8 discounted individual performance tickets.

For tickets or information on upcoming performances contact Bronwen Babich in university community relations at 740-725-6341, or email babich.5@osu.edu.