In the News
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
FROM OPERA NEWS, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL & MORE
MOZART AND BEETHOVEN WITH JANE GLOVER
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
"Her sizeable voice, with its slightly veiled quality, captured all of the vacillating emotions of the piece. In the opening recitative, she was especially attentive to text and dynamics. While in the aria, Slack sang with a special sensitivity to line until exploding with fury when giving voice to the woman’s rage."
NEW YORK CLASSICAL REVIEW
"The orchestra provided sensitive accompaniment for the soprano Karen Slack. Making her Philharmonic debut, she inhabited the piece’s shifting moods, from anger at a treacherous lover to vulnerability to proud resolution, with strikingly clear high notes by the end."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
AFRICAN QUEENS
THE KENNEDY CENTER, RAVINIA, TANGLEWOOD, ETC.
"Slack at this stage of her career leaves you with the impression of a singer in complete control of her gifts–and what she wants to do with them. Her generous, classic sound immediately lets one imagine the Verdi roles that have been a touchstone of her stage career, with an urgent spin, blooming top, and easy access to theater-filling power. She deploys that sound with a security and intentionality that enables her to meet all manner of stylistic and dramatic challenges."
WASHINGTON CLASSICAL REVIEW
"One of opera’s strongest voices at present — both as a singer and a shaper of its culture."
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Karen Slack is a singer of many tools and skills, styles and personalities, that she manifests to lure us in and hold us spellbound. The voice is bountiful, glamorous, rich. ... She is a natural actress."
PARTERRE
"Wielding a deep, heartfelt conviction for this program, Slack was an amazing storyteller, with excellent partnership from pianist Kevin Miller. At the height of her power, Slack’s voice, with impeccable diction, took us from song to another. Such superb musicianship takes us away from observing — often obsessing — about the mechanics of the singing, of transforming from one song through to another. As we live in a society where dissociation of things, and consumption in small random chunks have become the norm, Slack’s delivery of these stories, the weaving together of so many emotions, from joy to wrath, and the indescribable messiness of life, is truly special."
LUDWIG VAN TORONTO
FALSTAFF
ARIZONA OPERA
"Karen Slack made a lively, joyous Alice, her sweet, soft-grained soprano extending to a substantive lower register one rarely hears in this part . . ."
OPERA NEWS
"As Alice, Karen Slack sang with poise and radiant sound. Slack’s amply blooming high notes were especially brilliant. She and Heather Phillips, who sang Nanetta, stole the show as far as the women were concerned. . . These two women produced some of the sweetest notes and most finely shaped phrases of the evening."
OPERA TODAY
"The entire cast is excellent, with standout performances by sopranos Karen Slack as Alice . . ."
AZ CENTRAL
BEYOND THE YEARS
ALBUM RELEASE 2024
"The 19 songs from the freshly celebrated Chicago composer include 16 world premiere recordings, with Slack polishing their surfaces in performances of electric vitality. It’s a win that serves as a bigger win, for as much as the Grammys have to say about the future of music, a well-earned trophy can restore some shine to the excellence of the past."
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Slack’s powerful mezzo suits these compact gems very well. As you listen straight through, her consistency helps makes the album feel almost like a song cycle. Within it, one hears echoes of the late Romantic era; the European (especially French) art song tradition; and a heady influence from American spirituals, as in the title track."
BLOGCRITICS
"Through all of them, Slack and Cann are knowing guides. The occasionally high-lying vocal lines hold the former no terrors; the soprano navigates them all with easy confidence. And the clarity of Cann’s pianism always impresses. Azica’s sonics are bright and well-balanced."
ARTS FUSE
"Elsewhere voluptuous rapture tends to prevail - a gift to Michelle Cann's ardently responsive pianism and Karen Slack's vocal resources, which encompass soaring top notes, a gorgeously mezzo-like lower register and a predisposition towards a velvety sumptuousness. That is nurtured by fulsome vibrato and a more restrained, rather telling use of portamentos."
BBC MUSIC NEWS
"...an incredibly important document not only of these previously unknown corners of Price’s output, but also as a thrilling calling card for Ms. Slack’s artistry."
PEOPLE'S WORLD
"And while we’re focusing on Florence Price, here’s a chance to enjoy a selection of her songs, presented by two outstanding Philadelphia performers. Philly native Slack has been a devoted champion of the music of Black composers, and Cann, chair of piano studies at Curtis, has been recognized as a leading interpreter of Price’s piano music. Together they bring us these 19 unpublished songs (16 of them in premiere recordings), which Price wrote for many of the great singers of her generation, including Carol Brice, Camilla Williams, and Marian Anderson."
WRTI
LA TRAVIATA
SACRAMENTO OPERA
"The fact was not lost on soprano Karen Slack, who turned her Violetta into a showpiece for her powerful and emotional soprano. Her tour de force performance was the high point of this solid and tasteful production. Throughout Slack's soprano grandly filled the hall. Her singing of "Ah, fors'e lui... Sempre libera" in Act 1 showed range as a singer and draw as an actor. She navigated the tricky coloratura with accuracy and did so powerfully."
SACRAMENTO BEE
YARDBIRD
ARIZONA OPERA
Sung by Karen Slack, Addie’s powerful personality reminded me of strong-willed mothers I have known as a teacher. With warm and inviting [...] tones, she sang fervently of raising a black man-child in a world that didn’t always acknowledge the extent of his talent."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
DEAD MAN WALKING
MINNESOTA OPERA, KENTUCKY OPERA, DES MOINES METRO OPERA, MADISON OPERA
"There were moments of truly impressive singing on opening night from Karen Slack (Sister Rose)."
MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE
"Karen Slack returns to the role of Sister Rose with aplomb, her assurance with the musical stylings of this role evident in her enjoyment of performing."
BROADWAY WORLD
"Sister Rose (the charming, mighty-voiced Karen Slack)"
THE DES MOINES REGISTER
"Karen Slack (Sister Rose) captured the audience with a spinning, thrilling top voice that soared above the staff. Ms. Slack’s distinguished work in the extended, sonorous duet with Helen, served notice that she is an artist we will definitely want to hear again (and again)."
OPERA TODAY
"Soprano Karen Slack was a sonorous Sister Rose."
OPERA NEWS
"Karen Slack, as Sister Rose, delights with her impressive soprano instrument and her patient, no-nonsense attitude."
THE CAP TIMES
"Karen Slack is endearing as Sister Rose, the heroine’s warmhearted friend and counselor."
MADISON ISTHMUS
TOSCA
EDMONTON OPERA, NEW PHILHARMONIC
"Slack carried herself with the right mix of grace and fire befitting one of opera’s great diva roles."
SCHMOPERA
"Slack presented a Tosca, before she becomes a tragic figure, as Cavaradossi’s insecure, girlish lover, coaxing him to include her dark eyes in his painting of the Madonna. Their opening scene is the only light moment in the otherwise bloody matter, and Slack drew laughs as she teasingly nudged her lover toward a concession. She is the heroine of act two, as she resists Scarpia’s devious effort to win her sexual consent. In her confrontation with Scarpia, in her moments of sheer panic, Slack sang the high C’s Puccini gave her to slash the air in desperation penetratingly, as sharp-edged a sound as the knife’s edge she later plunged into Scarpia in the climax of the act."
OPERA CANADA
"Karen Slack brought Tosca complex personality to life with her facial expressions and her vocal prowess. Tosca’s well-known aria "Vissi d'arte” prior to killing Scarpia brought me tears with the beauty of Slack’s high clear soprano."
CHICAGO SPLASH
VERDI REQUIEM
MADISON SYMPHONY, SACRAMENTO CHORAL SOCIETY
"The quartet of soloist was impressive, but soprano Karen Slack and mezzo- soprano Guang Yang stole the show. Their clear warm voices were angelic in duets, and Slack brought tender urgency to her final prayer."
MADISON ISTHMUS
"Soprano Karen Slack not only has the range for the Requiem, but she has the rich, weighty timbre. She has, as the program notes said, "a voice of extraordinary beauty."
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
"However the most outstanding solo performance was Slack's "Libera me", the final movement of the operatic Mass. Her strength and emotive power sent chills through the audience."
SACRAMENTO PRESS
AÏDA
AUSTIN OPERA
"The principal voices are effective and moving. Karen Slack as Aïda soars at high volume . . . her subtle performance is outstanding. She carries herself in a way that feels always considered, never canned or forced."
AUSTIN 360
"And when Slack sings, her voice wringing the ache and sorrow out of Verdi's emotive music, her Aida becomes a tiny vessel of flesh and blood, lost in a wide, wide world. . . what makes the deepest impression again and again here are the personal moments: Slack's despairing Aida"
AUSTIN CHRONICLE
PORGY AND BESS
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO, FORT WORTH OPERA, SYDNEY SYMPHONY, ETC.
"Karen Slack’s Serena ripped the audience’s hearts out in “My Man’s Gone Now,” and she accomplished that formidable glissando over two octaves beautifully."
OPERA NEWS
"Two veterans of the Zambello production – soprano Karen Slack (Lyric debut) as Serena. . . – are reprising their roles for this revival. "My Man's Gone Now," Serena's emotionally intense lament for her murdered husband, Robbins (Bernard Holcomb), was one of the evening's high points."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"Karen Slack’s pure-toned soprano suited the religious Serena, and she provided a highlight of the evening with a powerful “My man’s gone now."
CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW
"In another show-stopping moment, soprano Karen Slack delivered a goose bump-inducing a’capella opening to "My Man's Gone Now," while mourning the death of her character’s husband, Robbins."
THE CHICAGOIST
"Soprano Karen Slack, as Serena, lit up the house with her gospel-infused prayer over the languishing Bess, “Oh, Doctor Jesus."
CHICAGO ON THE AISLE
"Karen Slack was a fetching Serena"
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"Karen Slack’s mournful and transcendent “My Man’s Gone Now” is a showstopper."
THE COLUMN ONLINE
"Karen Slack’s soulfully lush soprano brings Serena to the fore of every moment she is in, with a sweet, lilting high that made “My Man’s Gone Now” one of the most powerful arias of the evening."
THEATER JONES
"Soprano Karen Slack, who was the role of Serena, gave a notably heartbreaking performance of “My Man’s Gone Now.” Her powerful voice and expressiveness sent a wave of anguish over the audience. As Slack sang about the heart-wrenching grief of a widow, I found my own heart aching and paining for Serena’s loss of her husband."
MICHIGAN DAILY
"The deep humanity Robinson conveyed as Porgy and the tonal radiance of Karen Slack as Serena stood out."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"Karen Slack is also sensational as Serena. . . bringing the house down with her gleaming, stratospheric soprano in a heart-rending My man’s gone now: one of the standout moments of the night."
LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE
"Soprano Karen Slack, as the widowed Serena, raises the roof with 'My man’s gone.'"
THE AUSTRALIAN
"As the widow Serena Karen Slack sang with soaring power"
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES
OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS
"...the feisty, rich-voiced soprano Karen Slack”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"The third spectacular voice we hear is that of Karen Slack as Charles's mother Billie. Her participation in the wonderful shouting gospel scene is a high-point of the evening."
BROADWAY WORLD
"soprano Karen Slack supplied rich tones and ardent personifications as Charles and Billie."
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
CHAMPION
OPERA PARALLÈLE, NEW ORLEANS OPERA
"[Slack's] aria, a duet with jazz bassist Marcus Shelby, was a triumph. . . Slack and Shelby provided the musical highpoint of the evening"
OPERA NEWS
". . . his mother Emelda (a magnificent portrayal of selfishness and self-assertion by Karen Slack)”
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
"Fine support is given by soprano Karen Slack as Emile’s mother . . . Her blues aria, sung a cappella with only Marcus Shelby’s jazz bass line in the background, was a show stopper."
CULTURE VULTURE
"Karen Slack, as Emile’s mother Emelda, has some of Blanchard’s most beautiful music and she performed it with a warm and rich voice."
OPERA NEWS
"By far the most persuasive singing came courtesy of soprano Karen Slack, who embraced the arduous assignment of Emile’s mother Emelda – a personality by turns repulsive, pathetic, and finally capable of surprising sympathy – with exceptional interpretive instincts and superb vocal technique."
MUSICAL AMERICA
"Soprano Karen Slack, as Emelda, the absentee mother who abandoned Griffith and six other illegitimate children in their native Virgin Islands, beautifully atones for her negligence with a soaring aria about “seven babies in the sun” that brought down the house Friday night."
NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE
WAGNER & VERDI CONCERT
BACK BAY CHORALE
". . . soprano Karen Slack delivered “Dich teure Halle” with ease . . . for the Forza selection: her rendition was committed and shattering and stood out as a highlight of the evening. Her voice is a gleaming lyric soprano; her performance imbued drama into every phrase and movement."
BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW
MAID OF ORLEANS
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
"Karen Slack applied a radiant spinto soprano to the thankless role or Agnes Sorel"
FINANCIAL TIMES
MONC FINALS CONCERT
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA
"Warmly expressive especially in her vibrant top"
THE NEW YORK TIMES
IL TROVATORE
ARIZONA OPERA
"Karen Slack who sang the role of Leonora, the much sought after heroine, has a voluptuous soprano voice with silvery top notes and a formidable chest register. She seemed to throw care to the winds as she successfully navigated her music's many pitfalls. The result was an exciting performance of this difficult role."
