Opening Doors, in collaboration with the Club Passim Folk Collective, presented a free concert and conversation with Zakiyyah at First Parish UU Arlington.

Zakiyyah is an artist-changemaker who utilizes music and visual media to explore themes that centralize marginalized communities via her production company, Black and Bold Productions. As an actress and classically-trained singer who is well-versed in opera, hip-hop, jazz, and R&B, she employs her extremely versatile skill-set to reach a broad range of audiences and craft a sound that is uniquely her own—including her most well-known creation, "hip-hopera." She has served as a racial equity consultant through Arts Connect International, a peer mentor for Music to Life, an artistic partner with Boston Children’s Chorus, and currently teaches voice through Harvard’s Holden Voice Program. The show was hosted by Opening Doors co-founder Alastair Moock.

This event was made possible by First Parish UU Church, Nine Athens Music, the Club Passim Folk Collective, the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture, and the Mass Cultural Council.

Photography by Paul Locke