Rhiannon Giddens

Grammy Award-winning banjo superstar, sublime vocalist, and critics’ darling, Rhiannon Giddens uses her art to excavate the past and reveal bold truths about our present. Giddens’s lifelong mission is to lift up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been erased, and to work toward a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins. Pitchfork has said of her work, “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration,” and Smithsonian Magazine calls her “an electrifying artist who brings alive the memories of forgotten predecessors, white and black.” On May 8, 2023, Giddens was awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music for the opera Omar, which she co-wrote with Michael Abels (Get Out, Nope).

Critically acclaimed Nashville-based singer/songwriter Adia Victoria opens the evening. Born and raised in South Carolina, Victoria is known for her “gothic blues” musical style that tells stories of her life as a Southerner. Victoria’s 2021 release, A Southern Gothic, featured T Bone Burnett as executive producer, and explored the relationship that many people, especially Black women, have with life in the South.