Meklit

Meklit Hadero is an Ethiopian-American vocalist, songwriter, and composer, known for her electric stage presence, innovative sound and vibrant cultural strategy.

A Piece of Infinity, the latest album by Meklit, was released Sept 26th on Smithsonian Folkways Records. It has already received rave reviews by Bandcamp, The Guardian, and AfroPop Worldwide, and has been featured by NPR Music (Best Albums out 9/26), NPR’s Weekend Edition and the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Global Spin. This album is an invitation to think, to love, and to groove, reimagining folk tunes from a multitude of communities and cultures throughout Ethiopia into jazz-inflected fantasies imbued with warmth and reverence. From songs of longing and love to children's riddles and original compositions, Meklit traverses expansive sonic ground that offers just a glimpse at the infinite complexity of Ethiopian culture. Featuring guest appearances by harpist Brandee Younger and flutist Camille Thurman and recorded at San Francisco’s Women’s Audio Mission.

Meklit’s 2024 EP, Ethio Blue, was produced by the legendary, multi GRAMMY winning and Oscar nominated songwriter Dan Wilson.

Meklit’s performances have taken her to renowned stages across 4 continents. Her albums have topped world music charts across the US + Europe, received rave reviews, and her music has been featured by the New York Times, BBC, CNN, NPR, Washington Post, Vibe Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe and many more. Meklit has collaborated with renowned artists such as Kronos Quartet, Andrew Bird, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the late legendary creator of funk music, Pee Wee Ellis.


Meklit has always straddled her creative practice with her passion for cultural strategy. She is the former Chief of Program at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Jan 2020-Nov 2022) in San Francisco. She is a sought after thought leader and speaker and has given talks on multiple TED Stages, at the United Nations, and at the National Geographic Storytellers Summit, as well as at institutions, organizations and Universities around the globe. Earlier this year, she was a visiting Artist in Residence, as well as a lecturer at Stanford University.

Meklit is a National Geographic Explorer, a TED Senior Fellow, and a former Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University. She is the co-founder of the Nile Project, a featured voice in UN Women’s theme song and the winner of the 2021 globalFEST Artist Award. Meklit has been a guest DJ on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, created new works via commissions from Lincoln Center, MAP Fund, Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, Stanford Live, NYU Abu Dhabi and many more.

Meklit is co-founder, co-producer and host of Movement, a podcast, radio series , live performance series and community building initiative uplifting the songs and stories of immigrant musicians. Now in its third season, the show has over 50,000 subscribers, and airs monthly on PRX’s The World to an audience of 2.5 million listeners. She is also the co-founder of the Movement Immigrant Orchestra, a collaboration of Bay Area based immigrant musicians who have created a live concert sharing the vibrant, hyphenated sounds of multiple homelands: Ethio-Jazz meets Mexican Ranchera, Indian Classical melodies meet Eastern European rhythms, Taiwanese folk songs meet Spanish guitar. More than a concert alone, the Immigrant Orchestra’s full length show reminds us of our cultural strength, community resilience, and collaborative potential.