BIO
KAREN CHILTON is a New York-based Writer & Actor whose work has been seen on the New York stage, episodic television and numerous independent films. A native of Chicago’s Southside, Ms. Chilton received her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Bradley University.
Ms. Chilton is the author of the critically-acclaimed biography HAZEL SCOTT: THE PIONEERING JOURNEY OF A JAZZ PIANIST FROM CAFÉ SOCIETY TO HOLLYWOOD TO HUAC (University of Michigan Press). JAZZ TIMES wrote: "Perhaps the highest compliment one can pay to this fine biography is that during the first 150 pages the reader is wondering why Scott isn’t better known, at least in the jazz world. But by the story’s end…the same reader knows exactly why, but is still likely to be singing her praises as a true trailblazer in African-American culture." Chilton was awarded a month-long writer’s residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts to support her work on the book, and named the Tracy and Leo Maitland Fellow during her residency.
She is also the co-author of I WISH YOU LOVE, the jazz memoir of legendary vocalist, Gloria Lynne (St. Martin’s Press). The autobiography was a critical success, receiving an outstanding review from the industry journal, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, which stated: “Full of gossip, exclamation and vernacular, it’s a book that demands to be read out loud. This is a moving tribute to the crucible of Harlem jazz.” Her essay on blues legend Bessie Smith appears in AIN’T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment (Smithsonian Books). She is a contributor to AIN'T BUT A FEW OF US: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story, edited by author/jazz scholar & NEA JazzMaster, Willard Jenkins (Duke University Press).
For her scholarship on the life & music of Hazel Scott, Ms. Chilton is the 2025 recipient of The Chicago Jazz Philharmonic's THINK BIG! award alongside scholar, Dr. Toni-Marie Montgomery.
As a librettist, her works include the critically-acclaimed chamber opera, THE TONGUE & THE LASH, in collaboration with composer Damien Sneed. Based on the 1965 James Baldwin v. William F. Buckley, Jr. Cambridge debate which premiered in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' 2021 New Voices/New Works festival. The opera was staged at New York's Town Hall in commemoration of Baldwin's centennial in 2025. From BROADWAY WORLD: "...perfectly structured opera...a wonderfully poignant memory when ideas not just mottos and bumper-stickers guided political debate." Also in collaboration with Sneed, their reimagining of Scott Joplin’s seminal opera, TREEMONISHA opened Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' 2023 season.
Other dramatic works include: AFRODISIAC (Or Let My People Flow!) (New York Theatre Workshop-Golden & Ruth Harris Commission-Finalist); HEIRLOOM (O’Neill Nat’l Playwrights Conference-Semi Finalist 2019); CONVERGENCE (Winner of the New Professional Theatre’s Writers Festival). She wrote and performed the libretto for THE SOUL NOW SINGS in collaboration with pianist Damien Sneed, produced by NPR|New York Public Radio (WNYC) in The Greene Space. Her short plays, BLUE CASSIUS and SWITCH! have been produced in the Obie award-winning theater festivals 48 Hours In Harlem and The Fire This Time. She was a fellow for the Liberation Theatre Company’s Playwriting Fellowship (2020-2021).
Other works-in-progress include: DARLING OF CAFÉ SOCIETY The Life & Music of Hazel Scott, the film adaptation of the biography which in currently in negotiations. A stage play adaptation is also in the works. Most recently, Ms. Chilton contributed to the PBS AMERICAN MASTERS documentary on the life & works of Hazel Scott titled "THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MISS SCOTT," directed by Nicole London.
In March 2020, the Apollo Theatre produced DARLING OF CAFE SOCIETY, A Centennial Celebration of Hazel Scott with guest artists: Damien Sneed (piano) and Camille Thurman (saxophone/vocals), narration by Karen Chilton. The performance was live streamed as part of the 2021 International Women of the World Festival (WOW). The performance was commissioned by the March on Washington Film Festival (MOWFF) and was live-streamed as part of their 2022 Black History Month programming.
An award-winning narrator and voiceover artist, her voice can be heard on numerous national network television, radio and internet advertising campaigns. Most recently, she contributed to MOMA's Jazz in the Garden podcast. She has narrated dozens of audiobooks, including her AUDIE award-winning performance of GRACE WILL LEAD US HOME: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes; THE NEW JIM CROW by Michelle Alexander, and THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DUBOIS by Honore Fannone Jeffers. She is the recipient of multiple Audiofile Magazine's Golden Earphones Award including her performance of Robert Jones, Jr.'s critically-acclaimed debut novel, THE PROPHETS, A MARCH AGAINST FEAR by Ann Bausum and I’VE GOT A HOME IN GLORY LAND by Karolyn Smardz. Other recent audiobook narration includes: A KNOCK AT MIDNIGHT by Brittany K. Barnett, THE OTHER MADISONS by Bettye Kearse, and LIFTING AS WE CLIMB by Evette Dionne. Most recently, she has been nominated for a 2025 Society of Voice Artists Award for her narration of Honoree Fanonne Jeffers' MISBEHAVING AT THE CROSSROADS.
Her affiliations include membership in the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), Actors Equity Association (AEA), The Dramatists Guild, Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), The Toni Morrison Society, and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).