After having approached for many years the repertoire of great jazz (wo) men in “Barbara Sings The Blues”, then explored the roots of jazz with the album “Blues Everywhere I Go”, Barbara Hendricks offers us today “The Road to Freedom “. Blues and gospel songs have played a very important role in accompanying and inspiring the courageous activists who fought for civil rights in the United States, a struggle led by Martin Luther King in the 1950s and 1960s. Barbara Hendricks puts her voice to the fore service of this music for an original program with a strong message, and terribly current.
– Fernand Fourcade
Born in Arkansas (USA), Barbara Hendricks made her opera stage debut in 1974, at the San Francisco Opera and at the Glyndebourne Festival. She made her recital the same year at New York City Hall. She has performed on all major opera stages including the Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Covent Garden in London and La Scala in Milan. She sang under the direction of the most prestigious conductors of our time. Barbara Hendricks is one of the artists who sell the most records today.
After almost 20 years of tireless service to the cause of refugees in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, she received the title of Honorary Life Ambassador of UNHCR; it still fulfills special missions drawing on its long experience in the field. In 1998, she founded the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, which supports her fight for conflict prevention in the world, facilitates reconciliation and the strengthening of peace in conflict zones. Barbara Hendricks has received numerous prizes and awards, both for her artistic work and for her humanitarian commitment. She received the title of Commander of Arts and Letters from the French Government, was promoted to the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by François Mitterrand. She performed La Marseillaise when Simone and Antoine Veil entered the Pantheon in July 2018. Established in Europe since 1977, Barbara Hendricks is a Swedish and Swiss citizen.
Barbara Hendricks on “The Road to Freedom” program:
_ “On December 10, 1948 in San Francisco, California, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed and adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are gifted of reason and conscience and must act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. I was born on November 20 of that same year in Stephens, Arkansas, on my maternal grandparents’ farm. Neither my parents nor my grandparents did not hear of this declaration, but they were well aware of the Jim Crow laws which had established, after 300 years of slavery, racial segregation, this apartheid in the southern states of the United States which had lasted for a century. These laws were in direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On September 4, 1957, I was 8 years old and became aware of the civil rights movement. High S chool in Little Rock, Arkansas, nine black teenagers who had enrolled in a previously white-only school were greeted by a protest by angry and threatening segregationists. I saw with my own eyes the expression of hatred and venom towards these students who were the age of my older sisters. It was a shock. I had learned our history, I knew this long list of innocent victims of terrorism and lynchings, like Emmett Till or those four young girls killed in their parish in Birmingham, Alabama; I also became aware of the approach of many courageous activists like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. I was too young to take an active part in those nonviolent, yet dangerous, marches and protests that finally led to the Civil Rights Act in 1964, condemning discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin. , then to the “Civil Rights Voting Act” in 1965 banning it from voting. Since that day in September, I have followed with attention this essential fight for justice and freedom, through the acts carried out but also the songs that have accompanied this movement, and, as a young adult, my voice was raised to defend and promote human rights. There were setbacks, and I cried in 2013 when the 1965 Civil Rights Act was struck down and made redundant by John Robert’s Supreme Court. The 24-hour news channels tell us too many stories of injustice, corruption and unacceptable inequalities; sometimes this makes us despair and we feel defeated. Conflicts around the world have forced over 67 million people to flee their homes, yet we limit our generosity, build barriers and close our hearts to our sisters, brothers, and children in need. Today, and more than at any time in my life, I believe we must all stand up and play an important role for justice, solidarity and freedom all over the world. Every day and in all circumstances, I am happy to be able to sing these songs to encourage us to continue this struggle. “_
