Photo by Andrea Smith@andreasmithshoots Indianapolis-based singer Allison Victoria will perform a featured concert for Black History Month on Friday night entitled “Echoes of Love.” The concert will be 7 p.m. Friday, and is a featured event on
Indianapolis-based singer Allison Victoria will be bringing her talent to the Helen Haddad Hall this Black History Month and Valentine’s Day for the “Echoes of Love” concert.
The concert will be 7 p.m. Friday, and is a featured event on the Black History Month calendar.
Although her musical journey professionally began in 2016 after performing at a few open mics, Victoria said it really began when she was a child. She said she has always been around music, singing at her church and her father being a saxophone player.
She currently works as an elementary school music teacher at St. Monica Catholic Church in Indianapolis, all the while continuing her music career. She said it took her a while to find her sound since she grew up in the church and around many genres of music, but she eventually realized that she performs a little bit of everything and did not want to be put in a box.
“… so the best way to put it, in short, is universal soul, because everything I do is rooted in soul,” Victoria said. “If I’m doing rock, it’s rock soul. If I’m doing pop, it’s pop soul. If I’m hip-hop rapping, I’m doing hip-hop, it’s hip-hop and soul. It’s always there, it’s always present.”
Her upcoming Columbus concert, sponsored and hosted by the African American Foundation of Bartholomew County, will feature love songs that carry that universal soul, from jazz to hip-hop. Black History Month Columbus Project Manager Whittney Wood-Gaines said Victoria will also be performing some of her original songs in addition to classic love songs and ballads.
“It’ll be a really good pairing of some new sounds and also just some of those classic love songs that we love and have grown up on over the years,” Wood-Gaines said.
Victoria said she has been booked in Columbus a few times before as both a solo act and with her full nine-piece band. She said a few years ago, she worked with Exhibit Columbus to perform at a symposium, and it was Exhibit Columbus that had suggested to Wood-Gaines that Victoria perform at the upcoming concert. Wood-Gaines said they are excited to showcase Victoria’s voice as well as diversity.
“So, one of the things I found most intriguing about this artist was, to me, she sounds a lot like Etta James. But she’s young, so I was just completely taken aback by her voice and how beautiful it was,” Wood-Gaines said. “And so, we’re really happy to be able to highlight that at the Helen Haddad Hall, just that diversity that people probably aren’t routinely used to as far as concerts that typically happen here in Columbus. So, to be able to have an artist of color be the featured act for this concert is really, really cool.”
Victoria said she is excited for her upcoming performance and is looking forward to not only showcasing the music, but also meaningful music mixed in with feel-good songs. She said she hopes at least one person leaves her concert feeling inspired to break out of whatever box they may be placed in, just like how it was for her journey.
“Whatever it is in their life that might be stopping them from breaking outside of that comfort zone or an everyday routine, whatever it is, I like to be that spark for people,” Victoria said. “So I hope that there’s a spark, I hope that there’s a seed that’s left behind…. It’s more than just music, so I’m just hoping that someone, even if it’s just one, even if it’s a few, that they receive it.”
Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased at blackhistorycolumbus.com. Seats are limited.
