Cincinnati Song Initiative Welcomes #KikiKonversations to CSI Digital
CINCINNATI, OH - Cincinnati Song Initiative announces the addition of the talk show #KikiKonversations to its innovative online platform CSI Digital. Created and hosted by internationally acclaimed soprano and arts leader Karen Slack, #KikiKonversations joins an already robust suite of digital content offered by CSI in the form of podcasts, composer interviews, and premium song concerts.
“By welcoming Karen and #KikiKonversations to the CSI family, we continue to innovate the classical vocal arts through conversations that challenge the status quo, amplify a diverse array of perspectives, and draw attention to groundbreaking projects by creative individuals and companies,” says Cincinnati Song Initiative Founding Artistic Director Samuel Martin. “CSI is honored to partner with Karen as she prepares to take her important platform to the next level.”
The popular livestream, started in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, helped coalesce a community in the vocal industry, providing an entertaining and cathartic outlet for the show’s guests and viewers during a uniquely challenging time. It quickly developed into a groundbreaking platform for the arts community and industry leaders to gather and tackle tough topics not often addressed.
Says Slack, “I am thrilled to join the CSI family of brilliant content creators dedicated to uplifting the art of storytelling through the voice. #KikiKonverstions was created to spotlight artists and creatives within our classical vocal music community beyond their gift, and it developed into a unique place where we passionately speak about our journeys as well as to issues that affect us, both historically and presently, as an industry. CSI is absolutely one of my favorite platforms in classical music. I, along with my faithful #KonvosKrew, are honored to be a part of the collective!”
Upcoming guests include Miriam Khalil (February 22), Sidney Outlaw (February 29), Tamar-Kali (March 14), and ONEcomposer, a group that celebrates musicians who have been historically excluded. Viewers can enjoy these conversations live or on replay via YouTube and Facebook.
About Karen Slack
Known for performances that “ripped the audience’s hearts out” (Opera News), 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).
Highlights of Slack’s 2023-2024 season include her solo debut with the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall and her debut as a guest artist with Chamber Music Detroit, where she will give masterclasses and perform two programs: her acclaimed solo recital Of Thee I Sing and a program alongside the Pacifica Quartet. She performs in two productions of Shawn Okpebholo’s Songs in Flight, returns to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, returns to Colombia for the Festival Internacional de Música Sacra Bogotá, and continues her collaboration with the Pacifica Quartet at the Denver Friends of Chamber Music. Slack also embarks upon an ambitious new recording project in collaboration with ONEComposer and pianist Michelle Cann, to be released later this season on Azica Records.
A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is a sought-after collaborator, curator, and artistic advisor known for her fiery charisma and ground-breaking approach to engagement. She 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.
For more information, visit https://www.sopranokarenslack.com/.
About Cincinnati Song Initiative
Since its founding in 2016, Cincinnati Song Initiative has connected thousands of people through the unique and intimate power of classical song. A recipient of Ovation TV’s Stand for the Arts Award, the nonprofit is celebrated for its work to empower the community, build strategic partnerships, drive engagement through volunteerism, and deliver creative programming. Smaller in scale than opera, choral music, or other theatrical genres, the performance of song most commonly features one singer and one pianist in an intimate musical experience. Cincinnati Song Initiative creates these experiences with a pioneering spirit to engage communities in thoughtful and innovative ways. Deriving its texts from a variety of sources such as poetry, prose, speeches, or plays, song portrays the immediate and deep personal experiences we encounter throughout everyday life.
Each concert features singers and pianists of national renown, providing an unparalleled level of artistry within an intimate and accessible atmosphere. Audiences enjoy close interaction with the artists, hearing them discuss the relevance of the music in relation to today’s cultural and societal context, and enjoy engaging with them - and each other - during post-performance receptions. Concerts take place at different venues throughout the Queen City in order to connect with its many vibrant communities and explore all it has to offer.
Cincinnati Song Initiative remains devoted to the innovation of twenty-first century song by commissioning and premiering new works. CSI aims to connect with today's audiences and lead the way in original digital content among arts organizations, continually adding to its rich suite of resources with educational webinars, live interviews with artists and composers, and innovative performance projects imagined for the virtual realm.