Rhiannon Giddens has built an iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable. She is a two-time GRAMMY Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer and instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, and composer of opera, ballet, and film. Her work centers on lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased. Giddens co-founded the Black string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, formed the band Our Native Daughters with three other Black female

banjo players to create music from stories of historic Black womanhood and survival, and has been nominated for eight additional GRAMMYS for her work as a soloist and collaborator. Giddens’ album, They’re Calling Me Home, her second collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, won the 2020 Grammy for best folk album.

With 1858 replica minstrel banjo in hand, she wrote the opera Omar with film composer Michael Abels, which received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music, and, with her partner Francesco Turrisi, she wrote and performed the music for Black Lucy
and the Bard, which was recorded for PBS’ Great Performances; she has appeared on the ABC hit drama Nashville and throughout Ken Burns’ Country Music series, also on PBS. She has published children’s books and written and performed music for the soundtrack of Red Dead Redemption II, one of the best-selling video games of all time. She plays banjo on Beyonce’s latest single; sang for the Obamas at the White House; is a three-time NPR Tiny Desk Concert alum; and hosts her own show on PBS, My Music with Rhiannon Giddens. She is the artistic director of Silkroad, a social impact organization and global music ensemble founded by Yo-Yo Ma.

Giddens has been on faculty at Centrum three times, in both Fiddle Tunes and Voice Works, most recently in 2017. We are thrilled to welcome her back for an unforgettable night to celebrate creativity in community with the supporters who make our work possible.