Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Praised for her “sizeable voice that captured all of the vacillating emotions” (The New York Times), Karen Slack is "not only one of the nation's most celebrated sopranos, but a leading voice in changing and making spaces in classical music” (Trilloquy).

In the high point of her 2024/25 Season, Slack embarks on a nationwide tour of her new commissioning project, African Queens, an evening-length vocal recital of new art songs celebrating the history and legacy of seven African queens revered as rulers but not widely heralded in the Western world. Featuring new works by acclaimed composers Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon and Joel Thompson Slack performs the world premiere of African Queens at the Ravinia Festival, followed by performances at co-commissioners Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, 92NY, Washington Performing Arts, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, and Newport Classical Festival.

During the season, Slack will perform in the World Premiere of Damien Geter’s Loving V. Virginia with the Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony; reprise the role of Mama in Minnesota Opera’s production of The Snowy Day; and feature as soloist with the Fresno Philharmonic. Beyond the Years, her debut recording project featuring unpublished songs by Florence Price, developed in collaboration with ONEcomposer and pianist Michelle Cann, is out on Azica Records in summer 2024.

Over recent seasons, Slack has amassed a body of work reflecting her dedication to premiering works by living composers, with particular focus on using her platform to elevate works by Black artists. When the pandemic limited live performances during the 2020/21 Season, Slack made premiere digital performances with Houston Grand Opera, Madison Opera, and Minnesota Opera. She starred in a new production of the opera Driving While Black, presented by UrbanArias, and launched a digital talk show, #kikikonversations, drawing acclaim from Opera News and The New York Times.

Karen Slack has performed on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Austin Opera, New Orleans Opera, Minnesota Opera, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Madison Opera and Arizona Opera, among others. Abroad, she has appeared with the Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Slack made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the World Premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe’s Healing Tones with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is an Artistic Advisor for Portland Opera, serves on the board of the American Composers Orchestra and Astral Artists, and holds a faculty position at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Alberta, Canada. She has been named Lyric Unlimited Artist-in-Residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024/25 Season as well as Artist-in-Residence at leading entrepreneurial institution Babson College.

A native Philadelphian, Slack is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, as well as the Adler Fellowship and the Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera.