Rhiannon Giddens

Rhiannon Giddens is returning to her home state of North Carolina to explore the stories of its past and of those who built it through her Southern Futures Research Residency with CPA. She finds motivation and creative inspiration in unfamiliar stories—especially when these stories humanize people typically excluded from the “American” identity.

With the help of research assistant Callie Beattie and the guidance of the knowledgeable staff at Wilson Library, Rhiannon is conducting research using the materials housed in the University’s Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. Her time in the archives is expanding her perspective of this country’s history in an effort to push “against this ironclad narrative of the last 100 years.” In addition, she’s building a network of collaborators and thought partners across campus, from professors in the History Department to representatives of the American Indian Center. She’ll also meet with faculty, visit classes, and share her findings with people across the community. This residency—the first of its kind at CPA—was designed to offer Rhiannon time and resources to dig deeper into various areas of interest, with no expectation of a final product. Its an investment in Rhiannon’s overarching project, and a demonstration of support for her artistic aims.

In February 2023 Carolina Performing Arts presented Omar, Rhiannon’s sweeping opera inspired by the life of Omar ibn Said, a West African scholar enslaved in the Carolinas. The opera, which Giddens wrote the libretto and co-composed with Michael Abels, draws heavily from Ibn Said’s own 1831 autobiography—the only known document of an enslaved person written in Arabic. Months later, this groundbreaking new work went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Giddens’ artistic ethos, with a rich soundscape and a narrative that disrupts what we think we know about our country and its history.

A MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, Rhiannon co-founded the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. She’s also a member of the band Our Native Daughters, alongside three other Black female banjo players: Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, and Amythyst Kiah. She co-produced their debut album Songs of Our Native Daughters (2019), which tells stories of historic Black womanhood and survival. Named Artistic Director of Silkroad in 2020, Rhiannon is developing a number of new programs for the organization, including one inspired by the history of the American transcontinental railroad and the cultures and music of its builders. She recently wrote the music for Lucy Negro Redux (2019) for Nashville Ballet.