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Performances
RAVINIA FESTIVAL
August 1, 2024
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors.This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
WORLD PREMIERE*
AFRICAN QUEENS
Highland Park, NY
Martin Theater at Ravinia,
ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL
August 7, 2024
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
AFRICAN QUEENS
Aspen, CO
Harris Concert Hall
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH LYRIC
August 25, 2024
CONCERT
Artists from The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center perform a variety of favorites from the 2024/25 Season accompanied by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and conducted by Lyric Music Director Enrique Mazzola. Featuring a special performance by Lyric Unlimited's new Artist-in-Residence, Karen Slack, music fans will not want to miss this one-night-only concert under the stars.
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO
Chicago, IL
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park
FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC DENVER
OCTOBER 2, 2024
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
AFRICAN QUEENS
Denver, CO
Gates Hall, Newman Center
MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST
OCTOBER 5, 2024
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
AFRICAN QUEENS
Santa Barbara, CA
Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West
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LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
RECITAL
Of Thee I Sing! Songs of Love and Justice is a critically acclaimed recital created by Lyric Unlimited Artist-in-Residence Karen Slack in the late summer of 2020 during the height of the pandemic and just after the murder of George Floyd. The center of this moving program is the raw and powerful yet hopeful Langston Hughes poem, The Kids Who Die (1938) as set by American composer Scott Gendel. The program also features works that explore themes of love and justice by H.T Burleigh, Clayton White, Undine Smith Moore, H. Leslie Adams, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adolphus Hailstork, and Jake Heggie.
OF THEE I SING! SONGS OF LOVE AND JUSTICE
Chicago, IL
Lyric Opera of Chicago
FRESNO PHILHARMONIC
JANUARY 18-19, 2025
CONCERT
BERNSTEIN AND MAHLER
In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we welcome back the phenomenal soprano Karen Slack to perform Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The concert opens with Nkeiru Okoye’s energetic Voices Shouting Out. A lifelong advocate for civil rights, Leonard Bernstein’s jazzy ballet score Fancy Free brings this celebratory concert to a close.
Fresno, CA
Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
CONCERT
DREAM VARIATIONS: NINA, LENA, AND TINA
Karen Slack with pianist Mark Markham, at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. This special evening at Northwestern features Karen Slack performing works by Mahler, Berg, Wolf, Berlioz, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss, Hahn, Marx, del Tredici, and Wagner. You'll also hear Gershwin and Legrand, with a special tribute to Nina Simone, Lena Horne, and Tina Turner.
Chicago, IL
Lyric Opera of Chicago
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS
MARCH 9, 2025
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
AFRICAN QUEENS
Washington D.C.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
92NY
MARCH 11, 2025
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
AFRICAN QUEENS
New York, NY
Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92NY
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
MARCH 20, 2025
RECITAL & RESIDENCY
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
AFRICAN QUEENS
Toronto, ON
Walter Hall, University of Toronto
ARIZONA OPERA
APRIL 12-19, 2025
OPERA: DRAMATURG AND ARTISTIC COLLABORATOR
AIDA
On Saturday, April 12, 2025 and Sunday, April 13, 2025 at the Symphony Hall in Phoenix; and Saturday, April 19, 2024 in The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall in Tucson, Slack will be featured as a dramaturg and artistic collaborator for Arizona Opera’s Aida. Karen Slack's contribution to Arizona Opera's production of AIDA as dramaturg and artistic collaborator will be seen in Phoenix and Tucson as a stellar cast led by Leah Hawkins, Limmie Pulliam, Jennifer Johnson Cano, and Kidon Choi perform live on-stage against the backdrop of a visually stunning first-of-its-kind feature length Generative-AI film.
Phoenix, AZ
Symphony Hall
AUSTIN SYMPHONY
MAY 16-17, 2025
CONCERT
This performance features a blend of contemporary and classic works, capturing the essence of summer. The evening opens with Carlos Simon's stirring "Amen! ", a dynamic and soulful exploration of faith and resilience. George Gershwin's beloved opera Porgy and Bess closes the program, featuring iconic tunes such as "Summertime" and "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'," transporting audiences to the vibrant streets of 1920s Charleston, South Carolina, in a timeless tale of love and redemption.
SUMMERTIME:
PORGY AND BESS
Austin, TX
Austin Symphony
Lyric
DO
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MAY 20-27, 2025
CONCERT TOUR
The GRAMMY-winning University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra makes a historic tour of South Africa, ending in Carnegie Hall.The evening’s program, conducted by UMSO Music Director and GRAMMY nominee Kenneth Kiesler, joins film and stage music by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin with William Dawson’s powerful and thrilling Negro Folk Symphony and spirituals both moving and joyful.
CLASSICAL MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa Concert Tour:
Pretoria, Soweto, Johannesburg, Cape Town
New York, NY | Carnegie Hall
MAY 8-10, 2024
Baroque and Classical expert Jane Glover conducts this program spotlighting Mozart. Bookended by his Symphonies Nos. 35 and 39 — both full of gorgeous melodies from beginning to end — the concert features his buoyant Oboe Concerto performed by NY Phil Principal Oboe Liang Wang. Ah, perfido!, by Beethoven, one of Mozart’s most eminent heirs, is a dramatic showpiece for soprano, sung by Karen Slack.
MOZART AND BEETHOVEN WITH JANE GLOVER
New York, NY
David Geffen Hall
LYRIC CHICAGO OPERA
JUNE 25, 2025
RECITAL
Karen Slack presents works from her newest album, Beyond the Years. The recital will present performances of previously unknown pieces by Florence Price in collaboration with pianist Michelle Cann, followed by a post-concert discussion between the artists and Lyric Unlimited Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Antonio Cuyler on the impetus for recording the album.
BEYOND THE YEARS
Chicago, IL
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric
DO
ROCKPORT CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
AFRICAN QUEENS
JULY 11, 2025
RECITAL
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
Rockport, MA
Shalin Liu Performance Center
TANGLEWOOD
JULY 27, 2025
RECITAL
AFRICAN QUEENS
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
Lenox, MA
Studio E, Linde Center for Music and Learning
PORTLAND OPERA
SEPTEMBER 13-14, 2025
RECITAL
AFRICAN QUEENS
Karen Slack joins pianist Kevin Miller for African Queens, a new project celebrating the history and legacy of seven acclaimed African queens who were revered as rulers and warriors. This brilliantly curated program featuring music by both African and American composers, strikingly represents vocal works of the past and present. Each song reflects the beauty, humility, passion and power of each Queen being celebrated. The evening centers eight new songs written for Karen by some of today’s most acclaimed composers.
Portland, OR
Patricia Reser Center for the Arts
DALLAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
NOVEMBER 7-9, 2025
CONCERT
ALSOP CONDUCTS BRAHMS
Kathryn Bostic, award-winning composer of film, TV and Broadway music — whose accolades include being the first female African American score composer to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — pays homage to Gladys Bentley, African American blues singer of the Harlem Renaissance, in a new work featuring soloist Karen Slack.
Dallas, TX
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
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