Performance Year: 2026
Praised as “one of opera’s strongest voices at present–both as a singer and a shaper of its culture” (The Washington Post) and for her “sizeable voice that captured all of the vacillating emotions” (The New York Times), soprano Karen Slack is a recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence and a 2025 MPower Artist Grant. Slack is a sought-after performer, curator, and artistic advisor known for her fiery charisma and groundbreaking approach to engagement. Her debut album, Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, won the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
Slack’s 2025-2026 season sees the continuation of nationwide touring for her critically-acclaimed African Queens, an evening-length vocal recital celebrating the history and legacy of seven African queens, weaving historical narrative through new works by acclaimed composers with carefully selected traditional repertoire, further illuminated through passages of spoken text and thematic artwork. An orchestral version of African Queens is in development, with the world premiere to be presented by the Naples Philharmonic in Naples, Florida. Slack will also perform world premieres of a new work by Tamar-kali’s with the Miró Quartet for Arizona Friends of Chamber Music and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; Kathryn Bostic’s Drag, which celebrates the life of Gladys Bentley at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; and Brittany J. Green’s Letters to America for Soprano and Orchestra, part of the American Composers Orchestra’s program Hello, America: Letters to Us, from Us at Carnegie Hall. She will also appear with the Orlando Philharmonic, Chamber Music Cincinnati, and Spivey Hall, and present selections from her GRAMMY-winning album at Yale School of Music and Amherst College.
In her 2024-2025 season, Slack performed the world premiere of African Queens at the Ravinia Festival along with performances at co-commissioners Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, 92NY, Washington Performing Arts, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, University of Toronto, and Newport Classical Festival. She also performed recitals and outreach events as the Lyric Unlimited Artist-in-Residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago, served as Artist-in-Residence at Babson College, and appeared with the Fresno Philharmonic, Arizona Opera, Austin Symphony, and a tour of South Africa with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra.
