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Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced that Rhiannon Giddens, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops has been added to the 2015-2016 season, with a performance in recognition of Black History Month on Feb. 28 at Memorial Hall.

Accompanied by cellist Leyla McCalla and singer/songwriter Bhi Bhiman, Giddens will lead the concert titled “Swimming in Dark Waters: Other Voices of the American Experience,” which examines protest, subversion and cultural resistance from musicians of color throughout the history of the U.S., from its original inhabitants to recent immigrants. The performance will explore Southern songs of resistance, both old and new; the deep history of protest songs from McCalla’s Haiti and Louisiana; and the modern outside-looking-in observations of first-generation American Bhiman.

Giddens rocketed to the forefront of the folk scene when she indisputably stole the show after a riveting performance of “Water Boy” at the T Bone Burnett-curated “Another Day, Another Time concert at New York City’s Town Hall in 2013.

“It was clear the first time I heard her at rehearsal that Rhiannon is next in a long line of singers that includes Marian Anderson, Ethel Waters, Rosetta Tharp, Odetta, Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone,” said Burnett. “We need that person in our culture. She is, in fact, that person in our culture.”

A Greensboro, North Carolina native, Giddens has been described by Rolling Stone Magazine as, “One of the most promising voices in American roots music.”

This performance is presented in partnership with The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at Carolina. “We are honored to be collaborating with Carolina Performing Arts on this important presentation of music and culture,” said Joseph Jordan, director of The Stone Center. “This will be a unique and intimate exploration to mark Black History Month.”

Tickets start at $29 and are on sale at www.cpatix.org or by calling Ticket Services at (919) 843-3333.

Published December 10, 2015