Event

Sacred Music, Sunday Fellowship with Shawnette SulkerPost an Event »

Museum of the African Diaspora

September 16 - September 16, 2012

Info

685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Google Map »
This program will explore some of the musical traditions of Afro-based cultures from the United States, the Caribbean and the West Indies. As a small child, Shawnette Sulker emigrated with her family from Guyana to a largely African-American community in New York City. She experienced many shocks, both cultural and musical. Her ear went from listening mainly to reggae, calypso, soca and West Indian folk songs to R&B, hip hop, soul and later, spirituals. Ms. Sulker will present a program which highlights the traditional music of these two cultures. The songs presented will range from American spirituals to Creole songs to both secular and spiritual songs from Jamaica, Guyana, and Cuba. Acclaimed for her “heart-breaking poignancy” and “beautifully tuned soprano” by the San Francisco Chronicle and for her “enchanting vocal splendor” by the Leipziger Volkszeitung, Shawnette Sulker is a sought after artist in the United States and abroad. A consummate performer on both the operatic and concert stages, the soprano’s recent performances include Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Opera Naples, Adele (Die Fledermaus) with Internationale Opera Producties in the Netherlands, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) with Hawaii Opera Theatre and an orchestra concert of Porgy and Bess highlights and Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 in Leipzig’s Gewandhaus and Prague’s Smetana Hall. Ms. Sulker has also been a soloist with renowned companies such as the San Francisco Opera, Mark Morris Dance Group, American Bach Soloists, and the Natchez Opera Festival.