Somi

Vocalist, composer, and playwright Somi Kakoma was raised between Illinois and Zambia,
and is the daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda. Known in the jazz world
simply as ‘Somi’, The New York Times recently described her as “a virtuosic performer in
full command of her instrument and powers.” In March 2022, Somi released her 5th studio
album Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba, all-star tribute album honoring the
great South African artist and activist in commemoration of what would have been the late
singer’s 90th birthday. The album won an inaugural Jazz Music Award for Best Vocal
Performance. As a companion project to the album, Somi also wrote and stars in the
critically-acclaimed original musical about Makeba called “Dreaming Zenzile” that toured
nationally and Off-Broadway last season. Prior to the Zenzile album, Somi released an
unplanned live album called ‘Holy Room’ featuring the Frankfurt Radio Big Band at the
height of the 2020 global lockdown. The album ultimately earned her a 2021 Grammy®
nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, making her the first African woman ever nominated
in any of the Grammy® jazz categories. The album also won an NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding Jazz Vocal Album. Her previous studio album Petite Afrique, which also won an
NAACP Image Award, tells the story of the vibrant African immigrant community in midst
of a rapidly gentrifying Harlem in New York City and was the highly anticipated follow-
up to Somi's major label debut, The Lagos Music Salon. This fall, she will debut on
Broadway in the title role a new play called “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” by Joceyln
Bioh.

Closely mentored by the legendary trumpet player Hugh Masekela, Somi has carved out her
own path as an artist, scholar, and activist. A recipient of the 2023 Doris Duke Artist Award,
Somi is also a Soros Equality Fellow, a United States Artist Fellow, a TED Senior Fellow, a
Sundance Theatre Fellow, and a former artist-in-residence at Park Avenue Armory, Captiva
at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and UCLA’s Center for
the Art of Performance. She is also the founder of Salon Africana, a boutique cultural agency
and record label. Often celebrated for the socio- political messages inherent to her original
songwriting, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon asked Somi to perform at the United Nations’
General Assembly in commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Somi holds undergraduate degrees in
Cultural Anthropology and African Studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, a Master’s degree in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts at New
York University, and is currently working on her PhD at Harvard University’s Department
of Music. In her heart of hearts, she is an East African Midwestern girl who loves family,
poetry, and freedom.