Cal Performances is thrilled to welcome singer, composer, activist, and humanitarian Angélique Kidjo—a three-time 2022 Grammy nominee in the fields of Best Global Music Performance and Best Global Music Album—as our first season-long artist-in-residence. Kidjo, an international star and four-time Grammy Award winner, visits the UC Berkeley campus twice this season, performing her unique take on the Talking Heads’ seminal Remain in Light album in the fall, and returning in the spring with Yemandja, a new music-theater production co-commissioned by Cal Performances.

Kidjo is a genre- and border-crossing artist fluent in multiple languages and cultures, who has been honored for her activist work by the World Economic Forum and Amnesty International, and has been recognized by the BBC as “one of the greatest artists in international music today.” In all her work, the French-Beninese singer makes connections between contemporary issues and African musical traditions, and probes the past for lessons on improving the future.

During her campus visits, Kidjo will work closely with students, faculty, and a host of campus partners as part of a series of academic encounters and public programs that engage topics close to her heart, including the issue of equity in the fields of technology and data.