Angélique Kidjo to dazzle PAC in MIAC Live performance

Bella Lee, Staff writer

On Thursday, April 13, MIAC Live is welcoming superstar Angélique Kidjo to grace the stage at the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center.

Kidjo is a force to be reckoned with. A five-time Grammy award winner, Kidjo is one of the great- est artists in international music today, a creative force with 16 albums.

She has a variety of accolades to her name, as Time Magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva” and named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2021.

Additionally, the BBC has included her in its list of the continent’s 50 most iconic figures, and in 2011, The Guardian listed her as one of their Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World. Forbes Magazine has ranked Kidjo as the first woman in their list of the Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa.

She is the recent recipient of the prestigious 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award, the 2018 German Sustainability Award, and the 2023 Vilcek Prize in Music.

Kidjo has a very unique performance style, with her striking voice, stage presence, and fluency in multiple cultures and languages, thanks to her upbringing in Benin and having influences from her French, Fon and Yoruba roots.

Kidjo’s career has spanned over 40 years, a very impressive feat.

Among her most recent awards include the 2020 Grammy for Best World Music Album, for her 2019 album “Celia,” a tribute to Cuban legend Celia Cruz. Other releases include the Grammy-winning albums “Djin Djin” (2007), “Eve” (2014) and “Angélique Kidjo Sings with the Orchestre Philharmonique Du Luxembourg” (2015).

Kidjo has performed with several international orchestras and symphonies.

Her collaboration with Philip Glass, “IFÉ: Three Yorùbá Songs,” made its U.S. debut to a sold-out concert with the San Francisco Symphony in June 2015.

In addition to traveling the country and the world with her performances, Kidjo also travels the world advocating on behalf of children in her capacity as a UNICEF and OXFAM goodwill Ambassador.

At the G7 Summit in 2019, President Macron of France named Kidjo as the spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) to help close the financing gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa.

She has also created her own charitable foundation, Batonga, dedicated to supporting the education of young girls in Africa.

It is an immense honor that a name as big as Kidjo’s will be gracing our stage in just a few short weeks.

If you are interested in attending this performance, be sure to get your free student ticket at the PAC box office Tuesdays through Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m.