How can music and performance reflect and reconcile facets of collapse, collision, creation, and community? BAM curator and artist-in-residence Helga Davis and renowned writer Claudia Rankine discuss those topics and more with Somi Kakoma, a Grammy-nominated vocalist, composer, actor, playwright, and cultural trailblazer whose newest album, What Does It Take to Bloom?, explores the ongoing process of staying faithful to oneself amid life’s dissonance. In addition to the conversation, Somi will demonstrate how her songs can cut to the heart of the matter.
Born in Illinois to Rwandan and Ugandan parents and raised in Zambia, Somi channels a truly global perspective into music that pulses with African rhythms, jazz, soul, and contemporary urgency. Her artistry has earned two NAACP Image Awards, a Doris Duke Artist Award, and a historic Grammy nomination—the first for an African woman in a Grammy jazz category. In 2023 she made her Broadway debut in the title role of the Tony Award-winning play Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, and was commissioned to record her original song “Holy Room” for Carrie Mae Weems’s permanent installation Cool Blue Wind at The Obama Presidential Center.
Co-produced by Somi and Benjamin James of Nigerian highlife duo The Cavemen, What Does It Take to Bloom? was written and recorded between Dakar, Lagos, Paris, and New York City, and issued on Somi’s own label, Salon Africana. The album weaves global sensibilities into an intimate meditation on uncertainty and change, asking whether growth is something we recognize as it is happening, or only once we have already been transformed.
Born in Illinois to Rwandan and Ugandan parents and raised in Zambia, Somi channels a truly global perspective into music that pulses with African rhythms, jazz, soul, and contemporary urgency. Her artistry has earned two NAACP Image Awards, a Doris Duke Artist Award, and a historic Grammy nomination—the first for an African woman in a Grammy jazz category. In 2023 she made her Broadway debut in the title role of the Tony Award-winning play Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, and was commissioned to record her original song “Holy Room” for Carrie Mae Weems’s permanent installation Cool Blue Wind at The Obama Presidential Center.
Co-produced by Somi and Benjamin James of Nigerian highlife duo The Cavemen, What Does It Take to Bloom? was written and recorded between Dakar, Lagos, Paris, and New York City, and issued on Somi’s own label, Salon Africana. The album weaves global sensibilities into an intimate meditation on uncertainty and change, asking whether growth is something we recognize as it is happening, or only once we have already been transformed.
ONSALE DATES
All Tickets
Tue, Oct 13 at 1pm
Tue, Oct 13 at 1pm
UPCOMING Performances
VENUE
TICKET INFORMATION
Pay-What-You-Wish Pricing
Tickets available for $10, $20, or $30
Please note: All single ticket online and phone orders are subject to a $3 facility fee and an $4.50 handling fee per ticket. All orders at the box office are subject to a $3 facility fee per ticket.
BAM Bundle and member discounts do not apply to this event.
Tickets available for $10, $20, or $30
Please note: All single ticket online and phone orders are subject to a $3 facility fee and an $4.50 handling fee per ticket. All orders at the box office are subject to a $3 facility fee per ticket.
BAM Bundle and member discounts do not apply to this event.
All performances will adhere to protocols developed in accordance with New York State regulations and in consultation with medical professionals for the safety of our artists, audiences, and staff.
Leadership support for
BAM's strategic initiatives provided by the
Jerome L. Greene Foundation 
Leadership support for
BAM programming provided by
Leadership support for
BAM's strategic initiatives provided by 
Leadership support for
Community Programs at BAM provided by the
Thompson Family Foundation
