Singer/songwriter Somi (NYC) will develop Dreaming Zenzile, a jazz opera inspired by the late South African singer and political activist, Miriam Makeba. The work also features original compositions based on traditional South African vocal choruses and South African Jazz aesthetics, illustrating our respective and interwoven biographies, transnational cultural memory, the transportation of legacy and loss, and the privileging of the female African voice.

Somi
In late 2011, East African vocalist and songwriter Somi moved from New York City to Lagos, Nigeria, for 18 months in search of new inspiration. The result: her chart-topping 2014 opus and major label debut, The Lagos Music Salon (Sony/OKeh). The album, which also features special guests Angelique Kidjo and Common, draws its material from the tropical city's boastful cosmopolitanism, urgent inspiration and giant spirit, straddling the worlds of African jazz, soul, and pop.
Slide photo: Glynis Carpenter / Bio photo: Kelechi Amadi-Obi