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UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
MUSIC MONDAYS
JANUARY 15, 2024
RECITAL WITH HARLEM QUARTET
The Harlem Quartet leads a special program for MLK Day, which brings together music by Beethoven, spirituals, and works by African American and contemporary composers, playing all with equal “panache” (New York Times).
HARLEM QUARTET & KAREN SLACK
New York, NY
Advent Lutheran Church
FRIENDS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
JANUARY 17, 2024
RECITAL WITH PACIFICA QUARTET
Star soprano Karen Slack returns to FCM’s member Series, this time in concert with the Pacifica Quartet. The varied program features songs by George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, a new commission by James Lee III, and Dvorak’s Quartet in A-flat Major.
PACIFICA QUARTET
Gates Hall, Newman Center
Denver, CO
OPERA
PHILADELPHIA
TO SIT AND DREAM
MARCH 17, 2024
SOPRANO
The 90-minute concert is conducted by Opera Philadelphia’s Elizabeth Braden and Theodore Thomas, Jr., Director of the Wharton-Wesley Faith Ensemble and Minister of Music at Tindley Temple, and includes compositions by Roland Carter, Christopher H. Harris, Undine Smith Moore, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, Michael Reid, André J. Thomas, and Nolan J. Williams, Jr.
Tindley Temple United Methodist Church
Philadelphia, PA
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
MAY 8-10, 2024
SOPRANO
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
RAVINIA FESTIVAL
August 1, 2024
SOPRANO
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,
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH LYRIC
August 25, 2024
SOPRANO
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
​
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
SOPRANO
In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we welcome back the phenomenal soprano Karen Slack to perform Mahler’s haunting Rückert-Lieder. 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.
BERNSTEIN AND MAHLER
Fresno, CA
Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
SOPRANO
DREAM VARIATIONS: NINA, LENA, AND TINA
Karen Slack with pianist Mark Markham, at Northwestern University Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall, 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
NASHVILLE SYMPHONY
MARCH 16, 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
Nashville, TN
Schermerhorn Symphony Center
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
MARCH 20, 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
Toronto, ON
Walter Hall, University of Toronto
ARIZONA OPERA
APRIL 12-19, 2025
OPERA
AIDA
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.
Phoenix, AZ
Symphony Hall
ASPEN MUSIC FESTIVAL
August 7, 2024
SOPRANO
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
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
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
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