Lecture/Demonstration with SOMI

In this lecture/ demonstration, SOMI will talk about her intersection of creative process, anthropological songmaking, and the role of vocalist as storyteller, focusing on how our personal journeys can inform the stories we tell through song.

The talk includes a brief performance with SOMI’s pianist Toru Dodo and a Q&A.

Superb jazz chanteuse SOMI blends modern jazz, African music, and the singer-songwriter tradition, combining the musical and cultural worlds that resonate with her as an African and American woman with a voice and an elegance that Billboard calls “utterly captivating”. An Illinois-born resident of Harlem, she is the daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda. Highly regarded as both a scholar and artist, SOMI is a TED Senior Fellow and the founder of New Africa Live, a nonprofit that champions African artists. SOMI’s work with diverse artists includes collaborations with Mos Def, Danilo Perez, Paul Simon, Ibrahim Maalouf, and her long-time mentor, legendary trumpet player Hugh Masekela.

This event is being presented as part of Mapping Identities: Humanity and Culture through Performance, a multidisciplinary arts series within the 2017-18 performance season, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works program. The project celebrates history and humanity and brings artists and audiences together to explore intersections between culture, creativity and identity.

• An African in New York: Jazz Singer Somi's Petite Afrique
• Singing Across Continents: An Interview with Somi

Theatre/Location: Alumni Recital Hall

Price: Free

• Community
• Lecture/Presentation
• Music