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—Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson with text by Lorene Cary, Alicia Haymer, Tsitsi Ella Jaji, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton and Creative Collaborator for the African Queens project Jay Saint Flono.

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African Queens: A Recital by Karen Slack soprano and Kevin Miller piano

Aspen Meadows Resort

The 2023/24 Season of MusicNOW illuminates works by a dynamic collective of Black composers, the Blacknificent 7. Jasmine Barnes performs a work by Dave Ragland, and Damien Geter joins Barnes for her world premiere. From Thompson’s In Response to the Madness, which explores the composer’s angst in response to the chaos found today around the world, to Ragland’s Eight Tones for Elijah — a loving tribute to young violinist Elijah McCain who was killed by the police on his walk home — the program surveys current social themes. Also featured are works by Chicago’s own Shawn Okpebholo and Damien Geter. Nimble and accomplished improvisers, CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery and Carlos Simon perform of-the-moment interludes, woven between the other works on the program.

Montgomery and the Blacknificent 7

Symphony Center

Karen Slack, the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence winner and a featured soloist from The Jonah People, is one of today’s most celebrated sopranos. Widely admired for her voice of extreme beauty and dramatic depth, she returns to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center with her latest work, African Queens. This performance features new music written specifically for her by both African and American composers, each song reflecting the beauty, humility, passion, and power of a different queen. The program includes works by Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson, with texts by Lorene Cary, Alicia Haymer, Tsitsi Ella Jaji, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, and Creative Collaborator Jay Saint Flono. Presented without the Nashville Symphony, this concert promises a rich tapestry of musical and narrative elements that celebrate the legacy and influence of African queens through a contemporary lens.

Dave Ragland

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 16, 2025

African Queens – Karen Slack · Nashville Symphony

Past events

Aug 7, 2024

African Queens: A Recital by Karen Slack soprano and Kevin Miller piano · Aspen Music Festival

Dec 3, 2023

Montgomery and the Blacknificent 7 · Chicago Symphony Orchestra

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