Ahya Simone

Genres: R&B, Soul, Experimental Classical

Experience the grounding power of Ahya Simone’s ethereal music at Top of the Park this summer. Detroit-based Simone is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, filmmaker, and harpist, whose many pronged practice is bound by an exploration of Black identity, aesthetic, and community building. Her music brings the classical stylings of the harp firmly into the 21st century, a showcase for her versatility in genres ranging from electronic music and jazz to R&B and soul. Her single “Frostbite” is gorgeous and haunting, a meditation on feeling isolated while longing for connection and belonging. She has performed extensively in Detroit, as well as nationally and abroad and is a featured artist in Showing Up Showing Out, a film dedicated to the legacy and future of Motown. Simone has also been recognized by the Sundance/Knight Foundation, Detroit Narrative Agency, and Kresge Arts in Detroit. In addition to her music, she is also the creator, co-writer, and director of the upcoming fictional web series, Femme Queen Chronicles, a story of four Black trans women in Detroit. This performance is part of Ann Arbor is Burning: A Celebration of Radical Queer Imagination. Hosted by Express Your Yes.