Singer

Our 2025/2026 season culminates with the ultimate symphony — Beethoven’s Ninth, featuring an all-star cast of soloists chosen by Music Director Xian Zhang and joined by the massed forces of the Seattle Symphony Chorale. Revolutionary, epic and at 200 years old, still as driven as Beethoven’s own sense of our shared destiny, he crowned this summit of his music with the stunning addition of voices in a song for humanity, hope and joy. Xian pairs it with Artist in Focus Steven Mackey’s RIOT, for chorus, vocalist and the composer himself on electric guitar. This inspiring music places race and resilience in the foreground with a setting of words by Tracy K. Smith — culminating in positive affirmation and a celebration of perseverance, commitment and community.

EPSG:4326

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9

Benaroya Hall

Auburn Symphony joins forces with Seattle Pro Musica for a concert of profound beauty and emotional depth. Mozart’s Requiem, left unfinished at the time of his death, is a work of timeless intensity and soaring choral grandeur. Osvaldo Golijov’s Oceana, inspired by Pablo Neruda’s poetry, transforms the orchestra and choir into a vast, shimmering seascape. Together, these works create a poignant and unforgettable experience—music that resonates long after the final note.

Mozart Requiem

Federal Way PAEC

St. Louis–born vocalist, composer, and educator Alicia Olatuja is celebrated for her rich fusion of jazz, gospel, classical, R&B, and Afropop. Classically trained as a mezzo-soprano, Olatuja earned degrees from the University of Missouri and Manhattan School of Music, debuting at Carnegie Hall and Opera Memphis. She gained national attention singing at President Obama’s 2013 Inauguration and later collaborated with artists like Christian McBride, Gregory Porter, Billy Childs, and Dianne Reeves. A dedicated educator and certified life coach, Olatuja founded the Vocal Breakthrough Academy, and her live performances showcase her dynamic artistry and global musical vision. This is her SMF debut.

NOON30: Alicia Olatuja & Christian Sands

Trustees' Garden

OLATUJA sees vocalist Alicia Olatuja and Nigerian electric bassist Michael Olatuja reunite in music, blending Afrobeat, jazz, funk, and soul for a rousing, hard-grooving show. After enrapturing audiences at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Love Supreme Festival, and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, OLATUJA brings their singular sound to the Spiegeltent this summer for the very first time.

Olatuja

Fisher Center at Bard

Hear the brand-new lineup of NYO Jazz—Carnegie Hall’s evolving big band of top young jazz musicians from across the United States—as they perform under the leadership of trumpet great Sean Jones. The band has worked with some of today’s finest professional vocalists over the past couple years (Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jazzmeia Horn), and this season, it welcomes multi-genre singer and bandleader Alicia Olatuja to the mix. “You could be pretty confident you were hearing some stars of tomorrow,” wrote London’s The Times following a 2023 performance by NYO Jazz at Royal Albert Hall. As the ensemble's profile continues to grow, it becomes even more exciting to hear its latest accomplishments. From Duke Ellington to Thelonious Monk and Mary Lou Williams, to new arrangements and a Carnegie Hall-commissioned work by South African composer Sibusiso Mash Mashiloane, NYO Jazz showcases jazz as a living and limitless art form.

NYO Jazz in Durban, South Africa

The Playhouse Company

NYO Jazz

Carnegie Hall

Critically acclaimed jazz/gospel singer Alicia Olatuja returns to Rockport this summer, this time joined by her husband, the award-winning bassist/composer Michael Olatuja for a new musical project simply titled Olatuja. The duo will cover vast musical ground including Afrobeat, jazz, soul, gospel and funk for an infectious mélange of soulful style.

Shalin Liu Performance Center

This new project finds Alicia and Michael Olatuja reuniting in music. OLATUJA blends Afro-Beat, Jazz, Funk, and Soul.

Praised by the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage,” Alicia Olatuja has been captivating audiences with her exquisite vocals and artistic versatility. She first came into the national spotlight while performing as the featured soloist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Shortly thereafter, she assembled her own jazz-based ensemble and recorded her first solo album.

Mendocino Music Festival

Fittingly, the New Jersey Symphony has tapped leading New Jersey composer and frequent Symphony collaborator Steven Mackey to celebrate the centennial with a new commission featuring original texts by former US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.

Mezzo-soprano

Alicia Olatuja

Events

Past events

18 - 21 Jun, 2026

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9 · Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra

May 3, 2026

Mozart Requiem · Auburn Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Oceana by Golijov

Auburn Symphony Orchestra

About

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