Mark Diamond part of Beethoven's 250th anniversary celebration

Mark Diamond and Ludwig van Beethoven

Barihunk Mark Diamond will join the Baylor Symphony Orchestra and Choir in celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in singing the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The concert on February 8th at Jones Concert Hall in the McCrary Music Building in Waco, Texas is free to the public.

He'll be joined for the famous "Ode to Joy" by soprano Amy Petrongelli, mezzo-soprano Jamie Van Eyck, tenor Randall Umstead, and maestro Stephen Heyde.

Mark Diamond sings Clint Borzoni's "To Belong"

The "Ode to Joy" was written in the summer of 1785 by Friedrich Schiller and was used by Beethoven with slightly altered text. The tune was adopted as the "Anthem of Europe" by the Council of Europe in 1972 and subsequently by the European Union. Rhodesia's national anthem from 1974 until 1979, "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia", also used the tune of "Ode to Joy". 

Mark Diamond is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at Baylor University. As a performer, he has sung with the Houston Grand Opera, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Opéra de Limoges, Théâtre de Caen, Opéra de Reims, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Ars Lyrica, as well as others.