Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Task Force presents Internationally renowned mezzo soprano Andrea Baker’s show “Sing Sistah Sing,” a celebratory tribute to the sounds and bravery of African American women by retelling their incredible life stories through a mix of storytelling, jazz, blues, opera, art song and gospel. Andrea’s first solo show celebrates female voices such as Tuscaloosa’s own Dinah Washington, Leontyne Price, Marian Anderson, Billie Holliday, Nina Simone, and Donna Summer. The program weaves together these women’s brave struggles both in the civil rights movement and in the fight for artistic freedom. It has already received a rapturous audience response at the International May Festival in Germany and the Edinburgh International Festival fringe in Scotland. The show will be touring Germany, Scotland, and the United States as Baker makes a stop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. BBC Scotland will be here recording this event which will air telling the story of Tuscaloosa, AL, and the Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Trail and Alabama's Bicentennial! “Andrea’s voice thundered through the space and made the audience’s hair stand on end. Her voice is delicious”. --BroadwayBaby.com Andrea is a native of Sudbury, MA, and now lives in Scotland, near Edinburgh. She began her singing career with San Francisco Opera in 1994. She has travelled the globe performing in a number of the world’s greatest opera houses and concert halls. Like many of the women highlighted in "Sing Sistah Sing!" Andrea is an artistic trailblazer herself as highlighted in the press release. Full details of her career, including clips and audio can be found on her website http: andreabaker.org “.. at the heart of the Sing Sistah Sing! story is that all of us, as African American women, carry in our souls and in our voices the sounds of our ancestors’ songs of the plantation”. --Andrea Baker. This phenomenon has been described in the recently discovered essay, The Negro Melodies written in 1908 by the Reverend Dr Thomas Nelson Baker, Andrea’s great grandfather who was himself born into slavery. Andrea recently presented a BBC radio documentary on Frederick Douglass examining the period he spent in Scotland in the 1840s. A story not well known in his native USA. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06kb0g2 Andrea is joined by award-winning Albert Horne on piano. Born in South Africa, Maestro Horne was Chorus Master and Conductor for Cape Town Opera in South Africa. www.alberthorne.com
Monday May 1, 2017
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM CDT
Monday May 1, 2017 7:30pm - 9:30pm
1st African Baptist Church 2621 Stillman Boulevard Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
Free
Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Task Force
vi Tina Jones, Task Force Member
Send Email