Damien Sneed Celebrates New CD Release In Central Park

Award winning songwriter, composer, conductor and instrumentalist Damien Sneed shows his versatility with the release of a new project, The 3 Sides of Damien Sneed: Classical, Jazz & Sanctified Soul making its debut on June 29th. Sneed will be featured in a very special Central Park Summer Stage Concert event on June 30th.
“‘The 3 Sides of Damien Sneed’ is a milestone in my career,” said the Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient. “I’m finally able to showcase the various styles of music; I’ve been working hard at it since I was in elementary school. It hasn’t been an easy task trying to legitimately exist within three different genres [classical, jazz, and sanctified soul], but the journey has been worth it. I’m truly honored that I’ll be able to share the stage with Brandie Sutton, Stefon Harris, and Keke Wyatt, who are all at the top of their game. I am grateful to the Catskill Jazz Factory who connected me with SummerStage for this concert last year after my show they produced at the New York Botanical Gardens.”

Joining the summer lineup for “The 3 Sides of Damien Sneed” is Brandie Sutton, who is hailed by Opera News for her “sumptuous, mid-weight soprano,” and the New York Times for her “warm, ample voice,” “ravishing performance” and “distinctive earthy coloring.” The young soprano began her professional career with a solo recital in the province of St. Maarten and numerous presentations of Handel’s “Messiah” across the United States. She has performed in European opera houses, including the Semperoper Dresden, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre de Genève and Alter Oper Frankfurt. Sutton made her solo recital debut at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and Merkin Concert Hall in Lincoln Center, and her concert debut at Carnegie Hall. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Orpheus Symphony Orchestra in Moscow, and the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. In 2017, Sutton joined the roster at The Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Stefon Harris, the four-time Grammy-nominated recording artist and acclaimed vibraphonist,is lauded as “one of the most important artists in jazz” by the Los Angeles Times.As a leader, Harris will release his eleventh recording, “Sonic Creed,” with his band, Blackout, in September 2018 on Motema Records. Currently, he serves as Associate Dean and Director of Jazz Arts at the Manhattan School of Music. Harris has also recorded as part of The Classical Jazz Quartet with Kenny Barron, Ron Carter and Lewis Nash, and as a member of the SF JAZZ Collective.

International and multi-genre artist Keke Wyatt has recorded a diverse collection of music throughout her career, including R&B, country, techno-pop, soft acoustic rock, gospel and contemporary inspirational—all served by the wallop of Wyatt’s dynamic vocals. Wyatt’s life has been an open book, as she has starred in the reality shows “Marriage Boot Camp” (WE Network) and “R&B Divas: Atlanta” (TV-One). Recently she made a calculated move from the reality world to scripted television, appearing in the episodic series “Saints & Sinners” (Bounce TV). Music remains Keke’s first love; she not only sings, she is a strong percussionist and is also adept at keyboards, guitar, and bass. Earlier in her career, Wyatt performed with various girl groups, even receiving an invitation to join The Dollz (the Houston group that evolved into Destiny’s Child). Wyatt is best known for hits with former duet partner, R&B singer Avant, including “My First Love,” “Nothing in This World” and “You & I.”