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Advocacy, Connection and Joy: Highlights from Rhiannon Giddens
Published on June 13, 2024
Rhiannon Giddens (Photo by Ebru Yildiz)
10 Highlights from Rhiannon Giddens’ Southern Futures Artist Residency at Carolina Performing Arts
The UNC-Chapel Hill community was fortunate to have had almost three years with Rhiannon Giddens as the Southern Futures Artist in Residency at Carolina Performing Arts. The GRAMMY and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer, composer and instrumentalist wrapped up her residency in spring 2024, making this a perfect time to reflect on some of her top moments at Carolina. It was hard to choose only 10!
1. “Omar”
Jamez McCorkle as Omar in the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera composed by Giddens and Michael Abels
While “Omar,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera composed by Giddens and Michael Abels, was in the works before Giddens’ residency began, her routine presence on campus led to dozens of coinciding events. From exhibits of archival documents written by or depicting Omar ibn Said at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library to open rehearsals with local high schools; Omar teaching tools and lesson plans to scholarly conversations about the opera; the community had many opportunities to learn more about ibn Said’s life and engage in constructive dialogue on scholarly topics.
Take a deep dive into the opera’s creation and hear from cast members about their experiences.
Watch “Omar the Opera: A Scholar’s Perspective” to learn about “Omar” from the perspective of North Carolina scholars.
2. Archival research
Artistic creation often requires research, and Giddens’ residency connected her to the robust archives of Wilson Library. It was Giddens’ first time doing primary source research, and she found much to work with during her residency.
Watch “Illuminating Omar” and hear Giddens explain the importance of her archival research to her work.
Rhiannon Giddens reading an archival paper in Wilson Library while seated next to her research assistant (Photo by Taylor Barrett)
Giddens reads from “Build a House” at Epilogue Books in Chapel Hill. (Photo by Taylor Barrett)
Much to the delight of the Chapel Hill community, Giddens performed and read from her debut picture book, “Build a House,” at Epilogue Books during her residency. The book pairs stirring text with moving illustrations by Monica Mikai. Based on the song “Build a House,” which Giddens composed for the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth and performed with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Giddens tells the story of courageous people who would not be moved and the music that sustained them through untold challenges.
4. Fruitful exchanges
Professor Naomi André and Giddens on stage. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)
As part of her residency, Giddens had access to unparalleled partners in University faculty and staff, including Naomi André, the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor of music. André writes about Black opera, and she and Giddens filled several hours deep in conversation about their shared knowledge and passions when they met in February 2023. André is including a chapter about “Omar” in her upcoming book. See who else Giddens met with during her residency.
5. Radio shows, podcasts and conversations
Leoneda Inge, WUNC’s race and Southern culture reporter, with Giddens. (Photo by Taylor Barrett)
Giddens first met Leoneda Inge, WUNC’s race and Southern culture reporter, when she hosted the artist on her radio show for a discussion about “Omar.” Then, Wilson Library hosted a conversation with Inge and Giddens about Giddens’ journey into the archives as she conducted primary source research for the first time. And THEN, Inge featured Giddens on her podcast, “Due South,” in April 2024, when they talked about Giddens’ “personal experiences with country music audiences and her involvement on Beyonce’s single, “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
Photographs and papers from the John Hayles Blackfeather Jeffries Collection on Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, 1950-2017. (Digital collage/performance design by Miranda Miller.)
6. Connections and partnerships
Giddens made important connections with communities across campus, including the UNC American Indian Center. In spring 2023, she visited a meeting of the LandBack Abolition Project and heard from students and faculty conducting archival research into the campus’s land-based origins. She was struck by historic campus maps and knew she wanted to bring the maps and other archival and modern images of Native communities and traditions to the stage during her culminating performance, featuring Martha Redbone, Pura Fé and Charly Lowry.
Check out what Giddens found and brought from the archives to the stage in her culminating performance.
Giddens’ culminating performance was part of a two-day collaboration, “Roots & Reclamation: Native North Carolina & the LandBack Movement,” featuring several open classroom events and an American Indian powwow. The evening before the performance, Giddens, collaborators and community members gathered at the Ackland Art Museum for a conversation about land and music, coinciding with the exhibition “Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum.” The conversation inspired a new song, “When Are We Us,” literally written overnight and performed as the last song of Giddens’ final concert during her residency.
This group generated the conversation about identity and place that inspired a new song, literally written overnight! (Photo by Amanda Graham)
8. Surprise jam sessions
Giddens and Justin Robinson host a “Joe Jam” session in front of Wilson Library.(Photo by Taylor Barrett)
Giddens and former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmate Justin Robinson led a spontaneous jam session outside the steps of Wilson Library in honor of the revered string band elder Joe Thompson. They invited others to join, resulting in one of the most intimate and joyous moments of her residency. What’s even more awesome? The Carolina Chocolate Drops played in this EXACT SAME SPOT 17 years ago!
9. Now she’s part of Carolina’s history.
The amazing staff at Carolina Performing Arts documented Giddens’ residency – and all things Omar – from start to finish. There are SO MANY incredible moments and things she did that maybe didn’t make this list – but aren’t any less important. Check out the websites below for a more complete look at Giddens’ residency, and stay tuned, as these pages are routinely updated, and you never know what might come next.
Silkroad Ensemble performing on stage (Photo By Adam Gurczak)
For those who missed Giddens’ performances at Carolina during her residency — don’t worry! You’ll have another chance. Giddens will be back in Carolina Performing Arts’ 2024-25 season, on November 20, as artistic director of Silkroad Ensemble.
“It’s a gift to come back so soon and hopefully see the friends I made over the residency,” said Giddens. “Silkroad is so in congress with the things that I did with CPA and in the residency — so it’s all a piece really.”
Rhiannon Giddens’ Southern Futures Artist-in-Residency was supported by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust and matching gifts from CPA’s devoted community. Ticket sales for Carolina Performing Arts cover approximately 10% of what it costs to present their season and support artists residencies. Without private support, Friedman noted, “It simply would not happen. We’re deeply grateful for those who supported ‘Omar,’ Southern Futures and Rhiannon’s residency. It’s a testament to the people who believe in this vision of using the arts to uplift society.”
Make a gift online to support the performing arts.
Campaign for Carolina Impact
The Southern Futures Artist-in-Residence at Carolina Performing Arts was founded during the Campaign for Carolina, which raised more than $5 billion for students, faculty, research and patient care at UNC-Chapel Hill.
