The singers Capathia Jenkins regards as her favourites are so iconic, they can be identified by first name only: Whitney. Gladys. Adele. Now Jenkins, a New York singer with a soaring voice, is getting ready to step on stage with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra to sing hits by some of music’s biggest soul stars.
“She’s Got Soul is a show that we premiered with the Houston Symphony. We’ve been busy traveling around the States, and it celebrates some of my favourite songs and singers.” And, she adds, “It’s all done while I take the audience on a journey through my growing up in Brooklyn.”
Jenkins will have three background singers with her, and ESO Resident Conductor Lucas Waldin helped put the show together. Jenkins is happy to return to the Winspear Centre. “I think it’s my third time up there,” she says. “It’s old friends touring. We are all excited to play with the orchestra and to experience the Edmonton audience again.”
Jenkins said her musical journey began in early childhood. “When I was a little kid, I just was always singing. I had a hairbrush for my microphone. When I was about in third grade, my teacher told my mom, ‘This kid has talent.’ So I started lessons.”
From there, Jenkins just kept pursuing her musical education, studying classical voice, and attending Temple University in Philadelphia for vocal jazz.
After college, she played casinos and resort towns, and, as she says, “I got bit by the musical theatre bug.” She didn’t explore the possibility of singing with symphony orchestras until about fifteen years ago. “I love musical theatre, but symphony work is different. I learn my music and then I show up. We rehearse once or twice, and then it’s go time!”
“This is solitary work, but I love it because I get to be on stage as myself. I have rapport with the conductor and the symphony. It’s nice to see those guys again. It’s nice to be invited. For me, I have to like the people I’m sharing space with. And in Edmonton, there are lovely humans.”
Capathia Jenkins appears with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on November 15 and 16. Find tickets at winspearcentre.com
