Divas, Ingénues & Vixens Podcast

A Language of Her Own: Ezgi Karakus
What happens when an extraordinary classical cellist decides that one musical language simply isn't enough?

Turkish-born, Kansas City-based cellist, composer, and vocalist Ezgi Karakus has built an international career that moves effortlessly between classical music, Turkish folk traditions, jazz, and psychedelic Turkish disco. From performing with Ensemble Ibérica to creating original music inspired by the sounds of her childhood, Ezgi is an artist who refuses to stop exploring.

In this conversation with Divas, Ingénues & Vixens®, Ezgi shares the vulnerability of discovering her singing voice, the freedom of improvisation, and a remarkable story from her teenage years when music became a language more powerful than words. She also takes us inside Ensemble Ibérica's upcoming musical journey to Türkiye, where Kansas City musicians and audiences will experience the traditions, history, and sounds of her homeland.

Along the way, we explore what it means to trust the moment, find connection across cultures, and remain curious—even after years of mastering your craft.

Cellist. Composer. Singer. Explorer.

Ezgi Karakus is creating a musical language all her own.

What happens when the opera singer you were at 22 grows into the blues artist you were always becoming?

Lauren Anderson has spent years finding out.

From classical voice training and a career in music therapy to Nashville, The Voice and Team Snoop, Lauren’s path has been anything but a straight line. Now she joins Amity for a candid—and often very funny—conversation about what happens when technique meets instinct, when “doing it right” gives way to making the sound you actually want to make, and why finding your voice doesn’t mean you’re finished discovering it.

They talk vocal grit, the mysterious “muddy mix,” lessons that take years to understand, caring for a working voice, learning to trust your own instrument—and eventually, letting go of the need to ask permission.

Because the goal isn’t to become a different singer.

It’s to become more and more yourself.

Featuring Lauren Anderson’s new release, “Got It All” and the growl that got Snoop to turn his chair during "Midnight Train to Memphis"

Seventy-five episodes.

You dream about the thing. You do the thing. And somewhere along the way, you realize the thing has become something bigger than you imagined.

For this milestone episode of Divas, Ingénues & Vixens®, Amity sits down with two artists who know something about doing the thing: Joy Donze and Deirdre Lovejoy.

This summer, Joy and Dede took two original plays to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival—one of the largest and most exhilarating gatherings of artists in the world. There were tiny theaters and international audiences, five-star reviews and two-star reviews, unexpected recognition, a broken leg, a pair of crutches, and plenty of moments when success looked nothing like they expected it to.

And through all of it, they were there doing it. Not thinking about it. Doing it.

But this conversation is about more than Edinburgh.

It’s about persistence. About making the art because something in you says you have to. About learning when to adapt, when to accept help, when to trust your own voice—and why sometimes the most important thing is simply showing up and finding a way.

S2 Ep 22 is the 75th episode of Divas, Ingénues & Vixens®.

And this one feels special.

We think we know Mimì and Musetta.

One is tender and quiet. The other enters a room determined to be seen. Ingénue and Vixen—easy.

Except these women have never been quite that simple.

In this season-opening collaboration with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Amity sits down with sopranos Gabriella Reyes (Mimì) and Cadie J. Bryan (Musetta) for a conversation about the women at the heart of Puccini's La Bohème—and what happens when we look beyond the archetypes.

They talk about agency and female friendship, the tiny details Puccini leaves in the score, the vulnerability beneath Musetta's fire, and the strength inside Mimì's softness. Gabriella reflects on having inhabited both roles, while Cadie considers what it means to make an iconic character your own: “I don't think the goal can be to be iconic. I think the goal is to be true.”

And then three sopranos get talking about something even bigger: why artists keep choosing beauty when life offers no guarantees, why joy matters precisely when life is uncertain, and how new artists can step into music written more than a century ago and still find themselves waiting there.

La Bohème has survived changing centuries, changing settings, and generations of singers.

Maybe that's because we still recognize these women.

Always look closer.

What does it actually take to build a creative life—and keep choosing it before you know exactly where it will lead?

In While She’s Still Becoming, six Kansas City singer-songwriters get personal about the part of an artist’s life we don’t always see: the work behind the song, the people who help us believe, the patience to grow at our own pace, and the rest, space, support, and freedom that keep creativity alive.

Amity sits down with Brooke Mertz, Haley Burke, Miki P., Kristin Hamilton, Lucy Gray, and Emma Jo for a conversation about imposter syndrome, creative ownership, vulnerability, joy, ambition—and the dreams that are still getting bigger.

These are artists in different places, with different stories and different definitions of success. But each is still working. Still learning herself. Still making the music. Still dreaming.

And maybe we shouldn’t wait until someone becomes a “legend” to start paying attention.

All six artists take the stage Thursday, September 24, for Lyrical Belles: Legends at the Gospel Lounge at Knuckleheads Kansas City.