COTUIT – The Cotuit Center for the Arts will present ‘Sing Sistah Sing!’ this month.
‘Sing Sitah Sing’ is an award-winning celebration of the sound and extraordinary breadth of African American female voices over the centuries.
Conceived and performed by internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Andrea Baker, the show celebrates such musical greats as Leontyne Price, Marian Anderson, Donna Summer, Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday.
‘Sing Sistah Sing!’ uniquely features traditional storytelling and music ranging from African American field songs to spirituals, gospel, jazz, blues, and opera.
In this dazzling show, Andrea Baker will evoke the pantheon of African American vocalists and their brave struggles for civil rights and artistic freedom. Whether they chose jazz, pop, or opera to express their inner truth, these women all carried in their souls and voices the sounds of their ancestors’ songs of the plantation.
Only a highly-trained and soulful vocalist like Andrea Baker could contemplate such a demanding program, drawing as it does on sublime musicality, a profound connection with American history, and direct personal experience.
Baker’s great-grandfather, Thomas Nelson Baker Sr., was born into slavery, made his way to Massachusetts, and became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale University.
The long-time minister of the Second Congregational Church in Pittsfield, he lent inspiration for ‘Sing Sistah Sing!’ via an essay he wrote in 1908, titled “The Negro Melodies.”
‘Sing Sistah Sing!’ has been performed to rave reviews in Europe and was spotlighted in “The Best of the Fringe” in Edinburgh’s prestigious Fringe Festival. The show’s sensational American debut was held at Cotuit in June 2018 as a benefit for Zion Union Heritage Museum.
Andrea Baker’s 2019 tour opened in San Francisco on April 7 and will include stops at Arizona State University and Tennessee King Institute before arriving at Cotuit on April 28. Throughout the tour, Baker’s U.S. fans will also be treated to the rollicking piano mastery of Peter Maleitzke, a popular and multi-talented San Francisco-based artist.
‘Sing Sistah Sing!’ will be held on Sunday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, located at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit.
Tickets are $50 for regular admission, $40 for balcony seating. Members to the center get a $5 discount while seniors and veterans receive a $2 discount.
Visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669 for more information.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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