(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Five-time GRAMMY Award winner Angélique Kidjo comes to McCarter Theatre Center on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 7:30pm for an electrifying evening of music spanning her extraordinary career. The performance is part of a limited six-city U.S. tour before Kidjo continues to Europe for a series of international festival appearances.
The performance coincides with the announcement of Kidjo's newest album HOPE!!, to be released April 24 on Warner Music Group’s Parlophone label. The highly anticipated release follows her 2021 GRAMMY Award-winning album Mother Nature and further cements Kidjo’s status as one of Africa’s most influential and internationally celebrated artists.
Featuring 16 new tracks, HOPE!! is a vibrant and expansive work that channels joy, resilience, and connection in challenging times. The album includes collaborations with a wide range of artists, including Pharrell Williams, who produced three songs, as well as Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, Nile Rodgers, Charlie Wilson, IZA, and PJ Morton. The album is dedicated to Kidjo’s late mother and reflects both personal and global themes of hope and unity. The result is a groove-driven, galvanizing album that transcends genre while showcasing Kidjo’s larger-than-life presence and captivating voice.
“I started singing when I was six years old, and I’m grateful every day that I still get to live my passion,” Kidjo says. “With this album, I wanted to put some fire back in people’s hearts and show how much we need joy and hope to keep our humanity going.”
Tickets are available for purchase online or by calling Patron Services at (609) 258-2787. McCarter Theatre is located at 91 University Place in Princeton, New Jersey.
Kidjo’s recent honors include being named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People list and receiving the Polar Music Prize in 2023. She also performed “Jerusalema” at the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2024.
A dynamic live performer known for her powerful voice and commanding stage presence, Kidjo brings a genre-defying sound that bridges African traditions with global influences. Her performance at McCarter offers audiences a chance to experience both beloved songs and new music from HOPE!! in an intimate setting.
McCarter is one of the country’s flagship theaters and a vibrant center for community and the performing arts. Located on the campus of Princeton University, the company is an independent nonprofit, serving as a nationally renowned, multi-disciplinary creative hub for arts and ideas, offering theatre, music, dance, spoken word, and educational programs for all ages. A two-time Tony Award winner, McCarter’s legacy of artistic excellence dates back to the theatre’s first performances in 1930. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Kaufmann & Hart’s You Can’t Take It with You, and William Inge’s Bus Stop all had their premieres on the McCarter stage, paving the way for a long history of collaborations with playwrights to launch remarkable works that have gone on to tens of thousands of performances, reaching millions of audience members around the world.
The company is equally revered for presenting global artists on its stages, including Alvin Ailey, Yo-Yo Ma, Samara Joy, Hasan Minhaj, Jon Stewart, Caetano Veloso, Rhiannon Giddens, Patti Smith, Esperanza Spalding, Lake Street Dive, and Herbie Hancock, among many others. Of the 100,000 community members who directly participate in the company’s work every year, more than 5,000 are students taking part in McCarter’s robust educational offerings in Princeton, Trenton, and schools throughout the region. McCarter leads with values of “justice and joy, and beauty in belonging,” creating stories and experiences that enliven minds, expand imaginations, and engage communities.
