Francois Clemmons was born April 23, 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama and moved with his family to Youngstown, Ohio at an early age. When it was discovered that he had a singing voice of purity and power, he began singing at Church functions and at a nursery school. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin College and his Master of Fine Arts at Carnegie-Mellon University. In 1968 he won a position in the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Studio. He sang there for seven seasons performing over seventy roles with various companies such as The New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, Opera Ebony, Opera South, Toledo Opera and Washington Civic Opera. As Founder/Director of the world-famous Harlem Spiritual Ensemble, Maestro Clemmons performs regularly all over America, Europe, and Asia, carrying on his vision for preserving, sustaining and commissioning new and traditional arrangements of American Negro Spirituals for future generations. In addition, Dr. Clemmons created and performed the role of the friendly police officer, Officer Clemmons, on the Emmy and Peabody Award winning television program, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. He is now at work on several books: an autobiography, A Song In My Soul; a children’s story, Butter Cup And the Magic Cane; and a volume of poetry entitled A Place Of My Own. He lives and works in Middlebury, Vermont.