Ricardo Khan is a director, writer, educator and Tony Award-winning Artistic Director. He co- founded the Crossroads Theatre Company, one of history’s few African American theatres to ever rise to both national and international prominence as a major professional arts institution.

As a producer and director he has worked with luminaries such as Ntozake Shange, August Wilson, George C. Wolfe, Anna Deavere Smith, Melba Moore, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, former United States Poet Laureate Rita Dove and many more. He was Associate Producer for a number of Crossroads productions at the New York Public Theatre for the late Joseph Papp, and in 2005, with co-producer Woodie King, Jr., presented the Broadway tribute to August Wilson in the NY theatre that now bares Mr. Wilson’s name. Mr. Khan’s other directing credits include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage, the Market Theatre in South Africa, Ford’s Theatre, the Negro Ensemble Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Village Gate and the world famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem. As a writer, he co-wrote the NAACP award-winning “FLY” with Trey Ellis about the esteemed Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, “Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing”, also with Ellis, “Freedom Rider”, and “When Day Comes”, starring the internationally acclaimed singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Most recently, at the request of international film and theatre icon, John Kani, he travelled to Johannesburg to serve as director of South Africa’s first ever production of August Wilson’s “Fences” at the Joburg Theatre.

He was the Producer of the 2016 opening night gala ceremonies for the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC with performers and creatives that included Yolanda Adams, Daniel Beaty, Dave Chappelle and Frederic Yonnet, Ava Duvernay, Savion Glover, Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder.

Ricardo Khan holds a BA in Psychology from Rutgers College, an MFA in both acting and directing from Mason Gross School of the Arts, and an Honorary PhD from Rutgers University where he is also in the University’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni. He served as President of the Board of the national theatre service organization, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and is Artistic Director at the Crossroads Theatre Company.

Vocalist, composer, and playwright Somi Kakoma was raised between Illinois and Zambia, and is the daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda. Known in the jazz world simply as ‘Somi’, The New York Times recently described her as “a virtuosic performer in full command of her instrument and powers.” In March 2022, Somi released her 5th studio album Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba, all-star tribute album honoring the great South African artist and activist in commemoration of what would have been the late singer’s 90th birthday. The album won an inaugural Jazz Music Award for Best Vocal Performance. As a companion project to the album, Somi also wrote and stars in the critically-acclaimed original musical about Makeba called “Dreaming Zenzile” that toured nationally and Off-Broadway last season. Prior to the Zenzile album, Somi released an unplanned live album called ‘Holy Room’ featuring the Frankfurt Radio Big Band at the height of the 2020 global lockdown. The album ultimately earned her a 2021 Grammy® nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, making her the first African woman ever nominated in any of the Grammy® jazz categories. The album also won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocal Album. Her previous studio album Petite Afrique, which also won an NAACP Image Award, tells the story of the vibrant African immigrant community in midst of a rapidly gentrifying Harlem in New York City and was the highly anticipated follow- up to Somi's major label debut, The Lagos Music Salon. This fall, she will debut on Broadway in the title role a new play called “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” by Joceyln Bioh.

Closely mentored by the legendary trumpet player Hugh Masekela, Somi has carved out her own path as an artist, scholar, and activist. A recipient of the 2023 Doris Duke Artist Award, Somi is also a Soros Equality Fellow, a United States Artist Fellow, a TED Senior Fellow, a Sundance Theatre Fellow, and a former artist-in-residence at Park Avenue Armory, Captiva at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. She is also the founder of Salon Africana, a boutique cultural agency and record label. Often celebrated for the socio- political messages inherent to her original songwriting, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon asked Somi to perform at the United Nations’ General Assembly in commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Somi holds undergraduate degrees in Cultural Anthropology and African Studies from University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, a Master’s degree in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and is currently working on her PhD at Harvard University’s Department of Music. In her heart of hearts, she is an East African Midwestern girl who loves family, poetry, and freedom. 

Composer, Singer, Vocal arranger and Music producer

Drama Desk Award nominee 2014/2015- for best music in a play(Generations) which ran at the Soho Rep theatre in New York. Born in Umlazi Township-Durban - South Africa

- Current singing ensemble member of Broadway “Disney’s The Lion King” since 2001. Tenor/Baritone soloist and assistant Choir conductor for “Music Paragons adult choir 1995-1999.

- Worked as a Composer, Music director for Storey Productions- UCA productions of  “The Mighty Zulu Nation” and “Africa Africa” which toured United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland and Italy in 1999,2000 and 2001

- Music director of the African special performance at the “Westminster Abbey chapel in London” for the Queen of England at the Common Wealth Conference in 2000. Worked as a mentor and vocal coach in numerous youth programs teaching South African singing technique to both South African and United Kingdom students 1995- 2001. Music director and the vocal arranger for a South African special performance for the “Bambi Awards” in Hamburg Germany (2002)

- Music Director for “Sheila’s Day” play at the Lincoln Centre in 2008.

- One of the composers and performing artists for Carnegie Hall’s annual kids concert series “Music Explorers” -2010-present

- “Institute of Audio Research (IAR)” 2013 audio engineer graduate. -Song writer and vocal arranger for the sound track of the Jamaican Rasta documentary ”Bad Friday”(2013)- Featured 2015/2016 Guest Composer for the ”Princeton University Glee Club Choir” presenting the piece “Imfundo” which premiered on SABC 3 morning express TV show in Cape Town. Composer, vocal arranger and featured vocalist for the documentary about the 2010 Tivoli Gardens massacre in Jamaica. Composer for the film “Dressed Like Kings” 2018, Composer for the film “Stop” 2019.