Karen Slack Comes to the 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival 

The 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival will present GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Karen Slack in African Queens on Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 8pm in The Breakers (44 Ochre Point Ave). Co-commissioned by Newport Classical, the extraordinary evening of music and storytelling features Slack’s operatic virtuosity in a powerful selection of new works by both African and American composers. “One of the nation’s most celebrated sopranos” (Trilloquy), Karen Slack is joined by pianist Kevin J. Miller for this collaborative song cycle, which shines a spotlight on seven fierce African Queens, whose legacies as rulers and warriors have often been overlooked in the West, with each piece reflecting their beauty, passion, humility, and power.

The evening centers around eight new songs written for Slack by some of today’s most acclaimed composers including Jasmine Barnes, Damien Geter, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, and Joel Thompson. Each new vocal work on the program is woven together through interspersed narrative text by Lorene Cary, Alicia Haymer, Tsitsi Ella Jaji, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, and Creative Collaborator for the African Queens project Jay Saint Flono.

Newport Classical has commissioned and presented several world premieres of works as part of its ongoing commission initiative as a commitment to the future of classical music, including works by Cris Derksen, Clarice Assad, Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, and Curtis Stewart. African Queens is made possible through the generous support of Suzanna and John Laramee in loving memory of Toni D. Green and in honor of her family and friends. Newport Classical is proud to be among the early presenters of this important new work.

In addition to Newport Classical, African Queens was co-commissioned for Karen Slack by the Ravinia Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and School, Boston Symphony Orchestra for the Tanglewood Learning Institute, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, Washington Performing Arts, and The 92nd Street Y in New York.

From July 4-22, 2025, the Newport Classical Music Festival offers an unparalleled experience, combining 29 intimate concerts featuring over 100 artists with the grandeur and opulence of 11 iconic venues, making the City by the Sea an ultimate summer destination for live music. For 56 years, Newport Classical has United Artists and audiences to experience the joy of music and the connections it inspires, offering concertgoers the opportunity to discover new composers or experience timeless works offered from a fresh perspective.

Highlights this year include Opening Night featuring pianists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung; two evenings with Broadway star Jessica Vosk; performances by pianists Inon Barnatan, Sara Davis Buechner, and Wynona Wang; soprano Karen Slack's African Queens project co-commissioned by Newport Classical; the US premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang co-commissioned by Newport Classical; performances by world-class artists including violinist Leila Josefowicz, The Westerlies, Third Coast Percussion, Attacca Quartet, Twelfth Night, and more; Opera Night: An American Tapestry; and Closing Night with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and violinist Stefan Jackiw.

Rhode Island Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. SWEENEY TODD (East End Theatre and Performing Arts)

13.1% of votes

2. THE WIZARD OF OZ (Stadium Theatre)

12.5% of votes

3. THE LITTLE MERMAID (Stadium Theatre)

10.9% of votes

Vote Now!