Soprano Anjani Briggs on Mirabai, Opera, and the Music That Lives in Her Bones

What does it sound like when a life lived between two musical worlds feels its full expression? For soprano Anjani Briggs, the answer is something like water finding its level - inevitable, clarifying, and long in coming.

In a recent conversation ahead of Rising Waters Collective's upcoming concert Echoes of Her, Briggs refelcts on the dual inheiritance that has shaped her artistry. Growing up, she was steeped in the poetry of Mirabai, the 16th-century Raiput mystic whose bhajans are devotional songs as much as they are acts of radical longing.

That same sense of voice-as-self has guided Briggs through classical training in opera. Rather than experiencing the two traditions as separate or competing forces, she allows the two to inform each other. The breath, the ornamentation, the emotional directness of Indian classical music have lived inside her operatic singing all along. And conversely, the structural architecture and raw power of opera has given her a space to explore the two traditions together.

It is this integration that makes Brigg's voice and interpretations so compelling to encounter.

Join us for Echoes of Her this International Women's Day, March 8th, at ArtLove Salong in downtown Seattle.

Through this immersive experience, Rising Waters Collective invites you to an evening honoring the women whose music, poetry, and spirit continues to resonate across centuries. 👉 Visit the RWC event page to reserve your place today. Space is limited.

Rising Waters Collective is dedicated to centering underrepresented voices in classical and world music performance.