Alicia Hall Moran

ALICIA HALL MORAN, mezzo-soprano, brings diverse influences and passions together in a rich artistic brew:

BROADWAY, CLASSICAL, OPERA, SOUL, ART & JAZZ.

Since 2010 Alicia Hall Moran + the motown project have been crossing the boundaries between classical operatic performance and the history of American Soul. Originally scored by Alicia and her collaborators for classical guitar (Thomas Flippin), bass (Tarus Mateen), harp (Adan Vasquez and Ayako Watanabe), Japanese taiko drums (Kaoru Watanabe), and classic R&B backup vocals (Clare Williams), the ensemble grew to also incorporate operatic baritone (Steven Herring and Phillip Boykin), theorbo (Thomas Flippin), and piano and Fender Rhodes (Jason Moran).

Assembling an unique group of classical and non-classical players, Ms. Moran innovated a cool and nuanced take on Opera and the poetic beauty of Motown lyrics.

Read the fantastic ArtForum Magazine feature here… http://www.aliciahallmoran.com/images/ArtForum_May2011.pdf

Audiences at clubs, concert halls and museums around the country never forgot the motown project and by popular demand, Moran returns to The Highline Ballroom with a sequel to her first show. The heroine is back to settle the score.

Alicia starred as “Bess” in the National Tour of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess, the Tony-winning production from Broadway. She debuted as Bess on Broadway opposite Norm Lewis in the Tony Award-winning production.

The National Tour played the country’s most prestigious theaters and opera houses, including the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angles (“ finds the truth of the character in her magnificent voice” —LA Times ), and the historic National Theatre in Washington DC.

Read the entire Washington Post review here… http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/porgy-and-bess-at-national-theatre-respectful-and-genuinely-thrilling/2013/12/26/4d492310-6e5b-11e3-a5d0-6f31cd74f760_story.html

She was an Artist in the genre-busting 2012 Whitney Biennial along with her husband, pianist and composer Jason Moran. For the Biennial she curated the celebrated 26-performance event, BLEED, a mega-offering juxtaposing new collaborations and film with a survey of the Morans' past and current collaborations in the musical and visual arts to date.

Ben Ratliff’s New York Times review of The Morans’ BLEED here… http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/arts/music/alicia-hall-moran-and-jason-moran-in-bleed-at-whitney.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

She’s performed with iconic musicians such as saxophonist Charles Lloyd (Jazz at Lincoln Center/Rose Hall, Moldejazz Norway, Kennedy Center, Crowell Concert Hall), the guitarist Bill Frisell (The Village Vanguard, Jazz at Lincoln Center/Allen Room, Kennedy Center Jazz, The Stone, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of Art), guitarists Brandon Ross, Marvin Sewell, Mary Halvorsen, and Toshi Reagon, and around the world with Jason Moran & The Bandwagon featuring Tarus Mateen and Nasheet Waits.

Ms. Moran has contributed vocal performances to major artworks by Adam Pendleton, Whitfield Lovell and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Carrie Mae Weems, Simone Leigh, Liz Magic Laser, Joan Jonas, and Dorothy Darr.

She’s been an Artist-In-Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston and commissioned by ArtPublic for Miami Art Basel, the Whitney Museum, MoMA, and The Kitchen performing arts. Moran enjoys a certain freedom to engage her imagination for music and drama in the spirit of her great, great uncle Hall Johnson (1888-1970), who directed singers in Hollywood feature films, made the arrangements of Negro spirituals still performed on the world’s concert stages, and performed on viola with his string quartet at Carnegie Hall and in the pit for Broadway shows like Shuffle Along.