By Shaundra Selvaggi

In honour of Sway’s All-Woman Issue, on newsstands right now, swaymag.ca takes a look at black women of influence – past and present.

• Born in Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1977.
• Studied voice and piano from the age of seven and spent summers on scholarship at the Boston Conservatory as a teen.
• At age 20, she was chosen for the lead role in the premiere of the opera Beatrice Chancy, the story of a slave who murders her abusive master, who is also her father.
• She has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, Former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan
• Received honourary doctorates from St. Thomas University of New Brunswick and Acadia University in Nova Scotia
• Serves as Canadian goodwill ambassador for the African Medical and Research Foundation, Learning Through the Arts and the World Wildlife Fund
• In 2009, a split aorta sent her to the hospital for emergency open-heart surgery
• 3.2 billion viewers watched her perform the Olympic Hymn at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver