Karen Slack’s African Queens – interview on Oregon Artswatch
Grammy-winning soprano Karen Slack presents African Queens, a powerful recital at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton, Oregon, celebrating the lives and voices of extraordinary women from the African continent.
Through seven new arias—commissioned from composers including Jessie Montgomery, Carlos Simon, Joel Thompson, Damien Geter, and others—Slack reclaims the narrative of Black women in classical music. With stories ranging from Queen Amanirenas of Kush to leaders of the 1929 Aba Women’s War, the program elevates these historical figures not as victims, but as victors.
Performed in operatic style but with spoken word, poetry, and modern storytelling, African Queens is Slack’s first large-scale project as creator and curator. The project features pianist Kevin Miller, a recent Grammy nominee for his work promoting African-American art song.
