Soprano Karen Slack to Tour to AFRICAN QUEENS To Kennedy Center, 92NY And University Of Toronto

Karen Slack will continue the nationwide tour of her new program African Queens from Sunday, March 9, 2025 to Thursday, March 20, 2025. An evening-length vocal recital of new art songs, this program celebrates the history and legacy of seven African queens, revered as rulers but not widely heralded in the Western world.

On Sunday, March 9, 2025, Slack brings African Queens to the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C., presented by co-commissioner Washington Performing Arts. The D.C. performance will also have new accompanying visuals by Miko Simmons. The New York premiere of African Queens will be presented by co-commissioner The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) at Kaufmann Concert Hall on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, followed by a performance at co-commissioner University of Toronto in Toronto's Walter Hall on Thursday, March 20, 2025, part of the John R. Stratton Visitor in Music Recital series. Summer 2025 brings performances of African Queens at co-commissioners Newport Classical and Tanglewood Music Festival.

Slack performs alongside pianist Kevin Miller in this brilliantly curated program, which reflects the beauty, humility, passion, and power of seven iconic queens. The tour features eight new songs written for Slack by some of today's most acclaimed composers: Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, Will Liverman, and Joel Thompson. The Creative Collaborator for African Queens is Jay Saint Flono.

Each new vocal work focuses on a different queen, and the connective tissue between each story and song is woven together through interspersed narrative text by Du'Bois Akeen, Lorene Cary, Jay St. Flono, Alicia Haymer, Tsitsi Ella Jaji, and Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton. The Queens celebrated include Nandi, Queen Mother of the Zulu Nation; Amanirenas, Kingdom of Kush (Nubia, or modern day northern Sudan/southern Egypt); Ufua (Akhilomen) of Uromi in Esanland (southern part of Nigeria); Nzingha, Queen of Ambundu/Kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba (Angola); Queen of Sheba (antiquity biblical); Aminatu Zaria (Nigeria); and Nanny of the Maroons, Jamaica (born to the Asante/present day Ghana). The genesis of this special project was birthed during the pandemic when Slack hosted an episode of her #kikikonversations YouTube show, inviting these composers for a Composers Roundtable, moderated by composer Terence Blanchard.

In August 2024, Slack performed the world premiere of African Queens at fellow co-commissioner Ravinia Festival, followed by performances at co-commissioners Aspen Music Festival and Friends of Chamber Music Denver, as well as Music Academy of the West. Additionally, an orchestral version of African Queens is in process for future seasons.

Program Information

Washington Performing Arts Presents African Queens
Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 7:30pm
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington D.C.
Link: www.washingtonperformingarts.org/event/karen-slack-soprano/
Tickets: Tickets from $46

Karen Slack, soprano
Kevin Miller, piano

92NY Presents African Queens
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at TBC
Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92NY | New York NY
Link: www.92ny.org/event/karen-slack
Tickets: Tickets from $25

Karen Slack, soprano
Kevin Miller, piano

University of Toronto Faculty of Music Presents African Queens
Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 7:30pm

Walter Hall | Toronto, ON
Link: https://music.utoronto.ca/event/recital-john-r-stratton-visitor-music-karen-slack-soprano
Tickets: FREE

Karen Slack, soprano
Kevin Miller, piano

About Karen Slack

Slack's debut album Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price on Azica Records was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY Award in the category, Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.

Over recent seasons, Slack has amassed a body of work reflecting her dedication to premiering works by living composers, with a particular focus on using her platform to elevate works by Black artists. When the pandemic limited live performances during the 2020-2021 season, Slack made premiere digital performances with Houston Grand Opera, Madison Opera, and Minnesota Opera. She starred in a new production of the opera Driving While Black, presented by UrbanArias, and launched a digital talk show, #kikikonversations, drawing acclaim from Opera News and The New York Times.

Karen Slack has performed on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Austin Opera, New Orleans Opera, Minnesota Opera, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Madison Opera and Arizona Opera, among others. Abroad, she has appeared with the Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Slack made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the world premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe's Healing Tones with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She made her New York Philharmonic debut in May 2024.

A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is an Artistic Advisor for Portland Opera, serves on the board of the American Composers Orchestra and Astral Artists, and holds a faculty position at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. She has been named Lyric Unlimited Artist-in-Residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024-2025 season as well as Artist-in-Residence at leading entrepreneurial institution Babson College.

A native Philadelphian, Slack is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, as well as the Adler Fellowship and the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera. For more information, please visit www.sopranokarenslack.com.

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