Hailed as possessing a voice of extraordinary beauty, celebrated American soprano Karen Slack has garnered international renown for her artistic versatility, charisma and entrepreneurial endeavors. A recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack is an Artistic Advisor for Portland Opera, Co-Chair of the Women's Opera Network with Opera America, and serves on the board of the American Composer’s Orchestra. In January 2022, Slack was appointed Creative Partner with Brooklyn’s National Sawdust.

Highlights of Slack’s 2022-2023 season include her debut with The Dallas Opera; the world premiere of Shawn Okpebholo’s Songs in Flight, developed by Sparks & Wiry Cries, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Kimmel Center; performances in Austin and Portland with the Miró Quartet, and in Cincinnati and Albany with the Pacifica Quartet; a recital in Fort Worth with pianist Michelle Cann and at Cal Poly Arts with organist Alan Morrison; performing as featured soloist with the Nashville Symphony and Oklahoma City Philharmonic in two different world premieres by Hannibal Lokumbe; Beethoven’s Egmont at Carnegie Hall with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Fresno Philharmonic; and titled roles at Portland and Edmonton Operas.

Karen Slack has appeared with The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Arizona Opera, Opera Carolina, Austin Opera, New Orleans Opera, Nashville Opera, Sacramento Opera, Minnesota Opera, Atlanta Opera, Vancouver Opera, and Scottish Opera. Her debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis originated the role of Billie in the world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Slack made her film debut as the Opera Diva in Tyler Perry’s movie and soundtrack For Colored Girls.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Slack has performed with various orchestras throughout the United States including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Philadelphia Orchestra with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as abroad with the Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras, and St. Petersburg Philharmonic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Slack drew on her experience in film to expand her artistic platform through premiere digital performances with Houston Grand Opera, Madison Opera, and Minnesota Opera, taking on a starring role in Driving While Black with urbanarias and launching her critically-acclaimed digital talk show, #kikikonversations. She was also Co-Director for the 2020-21 Opera Program at the Banff Centre. Additionally, Slack became a sought-after collaborator to create bespoke content for the digital concert stage, co-creating and performing in #saytheirnames – Women of the Movement, a film recital and production in partnership with Philadelphia’s Lyric Fest and was the featured vocalist alongside actor Liev Schreiber in Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s Speaking Truth to Power.

A graduate of the Adler Fellowship and Merola Opera Program at the San Francisco Opera, the native Philadelphian is also a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. Karen Slack is a winner of the Montserrat Caballé International Competition, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, George London Foundation Award, Marian Anderson ICON Award, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition, Portland Opera Lieber Award, Liederkranz Foundation Award and the Jose Iturbi International Competition for Voice.

For more information, please visit www.sopranokarenslack.com