- Meklit Hadero
-
Meklit Hadero performing in Oakland, CA. Photo by Thomas Hawke
Meklit Hadero (aka "Meklit") is a singer and songwriter based in San Francisco, California. She is known for her soulful performing style, and for combining jazz, folk, and East African influences in her music. Born in Ethiopia, Meklit was raised in the U.S. and attended college at Yale, where she studied political science.[1]
Shortly after graduation, Meklit moved to San Francisco and became immersed in the city's thriving arts scene. "[Meklit] is an artistic giant in the early stages," wrote a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle after witnessing an early performance in the city's Mission District. "She sings of fragility, hope and self-empowerment, and exudes all three. What's irresistible, above all, is her cradling, sensuous, gentle sound. She is stunning."[2]
Named a TED Global Fellow in 2009[3], Meklit has served as an artist-in-residence at New York University, the De Young Museum, and the Red Poppy Art House. Currently a fellow of the Wildflowers Institute, Meklit has also completed musical commissions for the San Francisco Foundation and for theatrical productions staged by Brava! For Women in the Arts. She is the founder of the Arba Minch Collective, a group of Ethiopian artists in diaspora devoted to nurturing ties to their homeland through collaborations with both traditional and contemporary artists there.
Discography
Meklit has released two records to date. The first was an eight-song EP entitled Eight Songs (2008), the second her full-length LP, On a Day Like This.... Recorded at San Francisco's Closer Studios and produced by Eric Moffat and Unsound Recording, On A Day Like This... was released by San Francisco's Porto Franco Records in April 2010. Hailed by Filter magazine for "[combining] New York jazz with West Coast folk and African flourishes, all bound together by Hadero's beguiling voice."[4] the record also gained feature stories on Meklit from NPR[5], PBS[6], and National Geographic.[7]
References
- ^ http://www.portofrancorecords.com/artist/110
- ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/27/DDG56HDRHC1.DTL
- ^ http://www.ted.com/fellows/view/id/53
- ^ http://filtermagazine.com/index.php/news/entry/qa_meklit_hadero
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125120472
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/arts/gallery/quick-hits-meklit-hadero/quick-hits-meklit-hadero-leaving-soon-video/
- ^ http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/article/content.article/meklit_hadero_interview/en_US
External links
Categories:- Living people
- American singer-songwriters
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