Aretha Franklin to duet with Condoleezza Rice

The "Queen of Soul" is to team up with the former queen of the US state department at a concert in Philadelphia next month. Aretha Franklin will duet with former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, performing songs such as Natural Woman and Say a Little Prayer. The concert, a fundraising event for inner city children, takes place on 27 July, at the Mann Centre for the Performing Arts. Franklin and Rice will appear as guests of the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Rossen Milanov. Rice will accompany the orchestra for Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor, before joining Franklin to perform classic soul anthems and a selection of arias. Rice, 55, served as national security adviser and then secretary of state under George W Bush, and was the first African-American woman to hold either post. But she is also a celebrated amateur pianist, who once considered becoming a professional. In 2008, Rice performed for the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Franklin, 68, is a Democrat who did not vote for Rice's former employer. But the two seem to have put their differences aside to collaborate for the concert. "Ms Rice is a consummate classical pianist and since I sing the arias, I thought we could do something," Franklin said. "A bipartisan effort for our favourite charities."