In Review: Karen Slack in Opera Parallele’s “Champion”
“. . . his mother Emelda (a magnificent portrayal of selfishness and self-assertion by Karen Slack) . . . Slack uncorks an arresting blues aria, accompanied only by the quizzical intervals and glides of Marcus Shelby’s bass, about the essential solitariness of life. “All that’s left is me,” she sings, with lines that soar and implode, then try again.” -San Francisco Classical Voice
“The singers are wonderful in their range. . . Sopranos Karen Slack as Emile’s mother and Chabrelle Williams, Griffith’s wife Sadie, along with mezzo Michelle Rice as Kathy Hagan, owner of the gay bar, and soprano Aisha Campbell, Cousin Blanche, added luxuriant female voices.” -RepeatPerformances.org
“Fine support is given by soprano Karen Slack as Emile’s mother who abandoned him in his youth and lived off him in his glory days. Her blues aria, sung a cappella with only Marcus Shelby’s jazz bass line in the background, was a show stopper.”
-CultureVulture.net