Sing Sistah Sing!

Join us for "Sing Sistah Sing!" — the first work conceived and written by internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Andrea Baker. Through a mixture of storytelling, jazz, blues, opera, art song, gospel and rollicking piano virtuosity, "Sing Sistah Sing!" explores the extraordinary breadth of African American female voices and a heartfelt retelling of their incredible life stories. This celebration of sound brilliantly weaves together the brave struggles of African American women during the civil rights movement and in their fight for artistic freedom at home and abroad. "Sing Sistah Sing!" is an expression of the inner truth of all African American women. The women celebrated in "Sing Sistah Sing!" include Leontyne Price, Marian Anderson, Donna Summer, Nina Simone, the great Billie Holiday and more.

Andrea Baker, herself an artistic trailblazer, is the first African American to sing Fricka, Waltraute, Erda and Second Norn in Wagner's great "Ring Cycle" in the Chinese premiere of the work at the Beijing Arts Festival, the first African American Carmen in Australia at the Sydney Opera House and the first African American to sing the role of Ortrud in the South Korean premiere of Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the Daegu Opera Festival. In "Sing Sistah Sing!," Andrea Baker tells her own deeply personal story and pays joyful, soulful homage to many of the women who courageously paved the way.