At Winston-Salem State University, D’Walla Simmons-Burke has spent decades building a choral program from the ground up — founding four of the five choral ensembles that now exist within the university’s Department of Music and leading her singers to some of the most storied stages in the country and overseas. Known to many simply as the force behind the Singing Rams, she has guided the group through performances at Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry and, according to university reporting, a planned 2026 tour of Austria.
Simmons-Burke currently serves as WSSU’s Director of Choral and Vocal Studies in the Department of Music, according to Winston-Salem State University, which also credits her as the founder of four of the five choral ensembles currently operating within the department. Her reach extends well beyond campus: she conducted Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem with the New England Symphony and Symphony Chorale at Carnegie Hall before returning to lead the WSSU Choir in a mini concert there, the university says. She is also a recipient of the 105 Voices of History Kennedy Center Performing Arts Award and was one of three conductors who led the 105 Voices of History Concert Choir in its inaugural performance at the Grand Ole Opry.
Reporting from the Greensboro News and Record describes Simmons-Burke taking her Singing Rams from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Ole Opry, and credits her with having taken the choirs to Lincoln Center and Radio City Music Hall as well. The News and Record also reports that Simmons-Burke has led performances for audiences that included Pope John Paul II. Before arriving in Winston-Salem, she taught at schools in Georgia and South Carolina, according to WSSU; the News and Record identifies Voorhees College in South Carolina as one of her previous schools.
A Career Rooted in Family and Faith
Simmons-Burke grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where her grandmother, Edmonia J. Simmons, an organist, choral director and pianist, helped shape her musical foundation, according to the News and Record. The News and Record reports that she was later mentored by Roland M. Carter; WSSU identifies her as founder of the Burke Singers.
On the operatic side, Simmons-Burke has performed soprano roles in productions including La Traviata, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Telephone and The Old Maid and the Thief, according to the News and Record. She has said that music requires practice, research and disciplined work, and has also said she did not initially know she had discovered her gift. Her repertoire with the Singing Rams spans choral music, songs of the African diaspora and social-justice songs.
National Cathedral and a Long-Held Dream
WSSU’s choirs performed at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in 2024, a moment Simmons-Burke described as fulfilling a dream, according to the News and Record. She had said she wanted her singers to perform at the National Cathedral before she retired. That 2024 appearance came as part of the cathedral’s annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities Welcome Service, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Simmons-Burke has also been named a Recording Academy and Grammy Foundation Music Educator of the Year finalist, the News and Record reports. In 2025, she directed the WSSU choir and alumni choir at the installation of Bonita J. Brown as the university’s 14th chancellor.
From Prague to a Planned Austria Tour
The Singing Rams’ international travels stretch back years. In 2006, Simmons-Burke led the choir on a performance tour of Prague, Czech Republic, and later took the group to South Africa, according to Winston-Salem State University. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons-Burke and the WSSU choir joined the Virtual Choir Consortium of Charlotte to produce virtual performances, Forsyth Woman reports.
The News and Record reports that the Singing Rams spent two years raising money for a trip to Austria, and that the group sang Lift Every Voice and Sing before a WSSU football game along the way. The outlet reported that the choir was selected as one of four ensembles nationwide for a 2026 Music and Cultural Tour in Austria. Winston-Salem State University says the Singing Rams were among only four ensembles nationwide chosen to participate and were scheduled to perform in Vienna on June 17 and in Salzburg on June 19, 2026. The News and Record later reported that the choir toured Austria over the summer, with performances in Vienna and Salzburg.
A Choir Built on More Than Music Majors
The Singing Rams are a student choir with a long touring history: a 2018 university report described a spring itinerary with 12 stops across eight states, part of a tour that university officials at the time called nine stops in six states in its earlier phase, according to Winston-Salem State University. That same 2018 report described the Grammy-nominated Singing Rams as having performed nationally and internationally. WSSU says Simmons-Burke’s choral ensembles recorded and produced nine compact discs.
After touring Austria in 2026, the Singing Rams have carried WSSU’s name from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Ole Opry to cathedrals and concert halls across the globe, as Simmons-Burke built the choral program from the ground up.
