Carlos Simon

African American composer Carlos Simon's music reflects social justice concerns and has been widely performed by top orchestras around the U.S. After graduating, Simon worked as a keyboard player and musical director for R&B singers Angie Stone and Jennifer Holliday. Simon's 2017 work Amen! for wind ensemble was recorded by the North Texas Wind Symphony in 2019. Simon received the Sphinx Medal of Excellence in 2021, and he became the composer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Simon released an album featuring Requiem for the Enslaved that year, with the Hub New Music ensemble and rapper and spoken word artist Marco Pavé.