Since his graduation from the Academy of Musical Arts in Philadelphia, internationally renowned operatic tenor Hugh Smith has been on the move — singing in countries worldwide and rarely staying in one place for more than a few months at a time.

But the successful Bowling Green alumnus, an Ohio native, decided to take time out of his busy schedule to revisit his Northwest Ohio roots this week.

Smith will share his vocal talents with students, faculty and community members as part of the Moore Musical Arts Center’s 25th anniversary celebration.

Sunday at 3 p.m. Smith, along with faculty members and students, will perform several excerpts from various popular operas including “Carmen,” “Manon Lescaut” and “Don Carlo.”

The concert, which marks the finale of the 25th Season of Moore Festival Series, will be held in Kobacker Hall at the Moore Musical Arts Center.

“We’ve never done a concert like this with so many different operas, from so many different styles,” said Director of Orchestral Activities Emily Freedman Brown, who collaborated with Smith to develop the concert’s program.

“This being their 25th anniversary, we wanted it to be something special for the school,” Smith said. He added that musical selections were chosen to engage and educate the audience.

According to Brown, audience members will not be the only people who are educated during Smith’s visit. Due to the variance in musical style presented in the concert’s repertoire, students in the orchestra will be challenged to switch between different musical styles that originated in different European countries, she said.

“It’s a great experience and a great opportunity for the orchestra to play in a concert with someone who is such an accomplished singer,” Brown added.

Smith, who obtained his bachelor’s degree in music education and his master’s in music performance, did not always think he would sing for a living.

But after he won the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition in 1995, Smith realized he could succeed as an opera singer.

After gaining his master’s at Bowling Green in 1994, Smith went on to a four-year vocal performance program at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

With the extensive musical knowledge he gained as a result of his education, Smith said he became an immediate success as an opera singer, with his 1996 debut in Naples, France, performing in “Madame Butterfly.”

“I was catapulted into this giant operatic international career,” Smith said. “I really didn’t start off on a regional level.”

Smith said that since he was thrust onto the stage with highly experienced singers right away in his career, he was forced to immediately rise to their level.

“If you are working with someone who is very experienced, very talented and accomplished, the person who is standing with that person onstage has to either sink or swim,” Smith said. “They either pull that person onstage down with them, or they rise to match that person’s ability. That’s what I had to do to survive.”

Nearly 10 years since his career first took off, it shows no sign of slowing down. Smith is constantly on the road, only visiting his Florida home and his four dogs for a few days or weeks at a time.

While being away from home so much can be tough for Smith, he is happy in what he is accomplishing.

“I work a lot, but I enjoy what I do,” Smith said. “I feel very privileged doing it.”

Smith’s visit to the University is reuniting him with friends he made when he was in college.

Tina Bunce, manager of publicity and publication for the College of Musical Arts, will be singing a selection from “Les Troyens” with Smith at the end of the concert. She has known the tenor since he was a freshman at the University. According to Bunce, she used to sing with Smith in the Canterbury Choir at Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo. They traveled together with the choir to Europe.

“It’s a wonderful gift for him to ask me to sing on this program,” Bunce said. “It’s really going to be a treat for people to hear him, and I’m thrilled to get to sing with him.”

“The people who know him from when he was a student here are all having a great time seeing him again,” said Brown. “It’s a real homecoming and a real celebration of the success of one of our own.”