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🔗 Rhiannon Giddens to Lead Silkroad's Musical Explorations (The New York Times)

From the New York Times...

Rhiannon Giddens to Lead Silkroad’s Musical Explorations - The New York Times:

Trained as an opera singer, Rhiannon Giddens was a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the acclaimed folk group. With the Chocolate Drops and as a solo artist, a virtuoso fiddler and banjo player with a soulful voice, she has delved into African-American and old-time traditions. She won a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2017 and wrote an opera based on the autobiography of Omar Ibn Said, a Muslim man from Africa who was enslaved in South Carolina. (Its planned premiere has been delayed until next year by the coronavirus pandemic.)

Now she will have a new, global curatorial canvas for her genre-skipping ideas. On Tuesday, Silkroad, the cross-cultural music organization created by Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, announced that Ms. Giddens would be its next artistic director.

Awesome news! If you haven't heard Rhiannon Gidden's music, you owe it to yourself. Her music has a wide appeal, and regardless of your musical tastes, I think you will find something to love about it.