Karen Slack, soprano

Karen Slack, soprano
Kevin Miller, piano
African Queens
Sunday, March 9, 2025 / 7:30 p.m.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Recital

“Not only one of the nation’s most celebrated sopranos, but a leading voice in changing and making spaces in classical music.” – Trilloquy

Karen Slack is an operatic virtuoso who debuted the role of Billie in the 2019 world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, and who has amassed a body of work highlighting living composers. Simultaneously she has developed a career as sought-after curator and collaborator and now brings her new commissioning project, African Queens, to its regional debut. The evening-length vocal recital of art songs celebrates the history and legacy of seven African queens, revered as rulers but not widely heralded in the western world. The program weaves historical narrative through new works by acclaimed composers Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson along with carefully selected traditional repertoire – further illuminated through passages of spoken text and thematic artwork.

Washington Performing Arts is a project co-commissioner of African Queens. This performance is the third-annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Recital—a yearly performance honoring a dear friend of Washington Performing Arts and elevating new work of both established and renowned artists.

Presented in cooperation with the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts.

This performance is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.