Renowned baritone Tom Fox and pianist Philip Powell will present a diverse program of vocal music showcasing American folk songs and arias from some of the great operatic masterpieces on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Coastal Carolina University.

"Heroes and Villains" will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts. Admission is $10 general admission, $5 for ages 18 and under..

The tour-de-force program highlights heroes and villains of the musical world in what is certain to be one of the most provocative performances of the season. Fox has sung in many of the world's leading opera houses, and Powell is celebrated for his virtuosity on the piano.

The program opens with American folk songs introducing a variety of colorful characters. "Black is the color of my true love's hair" by John Jacob Niles is the story of a man clearly in love, while two "Gambler songs" tell of a gambler who sweeps a young girl off her feet over the protestations of her mother who, as it turns out, was right all along. "Don Quixote," the classic hero, is portrayed in a set of French songs that tell the story of his love for Dulcinea and his tragic death, while Camille Saint-Saens' well-known "Danse Macabre" evokes a lively image of Death playing his violin..

Following intermission, music lovers will be entranced by the dark "Credo in un Dio" from Giuseppe Verdi's "Otello" in which the villain Iago denounces God as evil and cruel. "Isolde's Leibestod" from Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," Jaccques Offenbach's "Scintille, diamante" from "Tales of Hoffmann" and "Die Frist ist um" from "The Flying Dutchman," another Wagner opera, round out the program. .

Fox, a native of Cincinnati, was a resident member of the Cincinnati Opera from 1976 to 1980. He has sung in many of the world's leading opera houses including the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and with companies in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Montpellier, Milan (La Scala), Rome, Bologna, Turin and Brussels, among others. He performed at the 1998 Festival of Music and Arts in Pawleys Island, where he now lives with his wife, dancer Ilka Doubek.

Powell, associate professor of music and chair of the Department of Performing Arts, has been a faculty member at Coastal since 1988, teaching piano and piano pedagogy. In addition to teaching, Powell maintains an active performing schedule with concerts frequently heard on South Carolina Public Radio. .

For more information or tickets, call the Box Office at 349-2502.