K.F. Jacques and the Brave Power of Crossing Genres

Keturah begins this episode chatting with baritone, Zachary Nelson (http://www.zacharynelsonbaritone.com/), who speaks with her about Mozart and DaPonte’s Le nozze di Figaro, the Beaumarchais plays, and their tie to the French Revolution.  You can read more about these connections here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jan/06/classicalmusicandopera,
and here: https://sfopera.com/blog/the-marriage-of-figaro-fomenting-the-french-revolution/.

Next, Keturah speaks with Chicago based opera singer and hip-hop artist, Khary “K.F. Jacques” Laurent. (https://www.kfjacques.com/).  They discuss genre mixing with hip hop and opera, crafting words for hip hop, and his work for Chicago Fringe Opera (https://www.chicagofringeopera.com/) on both The Rosina Project (https://www.gjcederquist.com/projects/6849633), and Corsair, which was created for the Decameron Opera Coalition (https://www.chicagofringeopera.com/event/corsair/).

Other interesting things that come up in Keturah’s conversation with Khary:

Merit Music - https://meritmusic.org/
Chicago Academy of the Arts - https://www.chicagoacademyforthearts.org/
Roosevelt University - https://www.roosevelt.edu/
Pivot Arts - https://pivotarts.org/
James Marvel - https://jamesmarvel.com/
Kechi - https://www.buzz-music.com/post/r-b-soul-artist-kechi-is-captivating-his-audience-with-latest-single-just
Rapper’s Delight - https://youtu.be/mcCK99wHrk0
Hans Zimmer - https://hans-zimmer.com/
Sledgehammer - https://youtu.be/OJWJE0x7T4Q
A Promised Land, by Barack Obama - https://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Barack-Obama/dp/1524763160