Overview

Join us for a stimulating online discussion with musical powerhouses Angélique Kidjo and Cécile McLorin Salvant, who both made exciting new albums in the past year. They’ll dig into their creative lives and work throughout the global impact of COVID-19. Hear how they opened up new ways of thinking and expressing under uniquely demanding circumstances.

Four-time GRAMMY® Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with thirteen albums to her name. Time Magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva”. As a performer, her striking voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have won respect from her peers and expanded her following across national borders. Kidjo has cross-pollinated the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American R&B, funk and jazz, as well as influences from Europe and Latin America.

The world first learned of the incredible vocal artistry of Cécile McLorin Salvant when she won the prestigious 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. In just under the span of a decade she has evolved from a darling of jazz critics and fans, to a multi-GRAMMY® Award winner, to a prescient and fearless voice in music today. Her debut album, WomanChild (2013), received a GRAMMY® nomination. And her following releases, For One to Love (2015), Dreams and Daggers (2017), and The Window (2018) all won GRAMMY® Awards for “Best Jazz Vocal Album.”

Produced in association with Danny Kapilian