Rhiannon Giddens won a Grammy as lead singer, violinist and banjo player with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an old-time, African American string band. Now she’s busy plucking up a solo career, which this year included a collaborative album, “There Is No Other,” with Italian jazz musician Francesco Turrisi. The two will display their combined artistry at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in shows on Friday and Saturday. Here, Giddens, 42, dishes on being a “banjo nerd,” her Broadway near miss and the future of the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

How did you connect with Francesco, and what makes that collaboration gel?

He heard about me from the Carolina Chocolate Drops. We met up over a span of years and recently reconnected. What he does with his music is parallel to what I do with mine. I’m obviously looking to talk about the African American co-creators of American music and trying to highlight [them], especially in the areas where they’ve been completely erased, like country music and old-time music.

And he’s been really investigating where his family’s from in Sicily — there’s a lot of Arabic influence and a lot of Mediterranean music. So it’s kind of like parallel stories, but separated by the Atlantic Ocean … And we’re both conservatory-trained. He trained in jazz-improv piano, and I trained in opera.

You’re playing the Met this weekend, so have you been there before?

Yeah. I actually recorded a video of me playing my historic banjo there in one of the exhibits. We’ve been trying to find a way for us to work together for a while, so when this opportunity to do our New York [shows] there came up, it was kind of a culmination of a few years of talking to people there … I just love being in New York. I lived there for a short amount of time when I was working on this Broadway show. I was supposed to replace Audra McDonald in “Shuffle Along,” like, three years ago. I was about to step in for her, and they closed it down, so it was a big ol’ scandal.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops haven’t made an album since 2012, so can you see the band getting back together?

I’d say that’s probably not gonna happen. We had a great run, and I’m super proud of what we did as a band. And I’m really proud about what everybody’s done since then. It really was a family that hasn’t died. The spirit of the Drops is still out there. The actual band is probably gonna remain in the past still.

You’ve done some acting recently in the TV series “Nashville.” Do you have a dream role, someone who you would love to play?

If I was younger and thinner, I would say Lena Horne. But there’s a lot of really great people that need to be portrayed and so many stories to tell.

Who else is on your wish list of collaborators?

I’m such a banjo nerd, it’s really hard to imagine. [Laughs.] I’m working on a project with my nephew — he’s an up-and-coming rapper whose handle is Demeanor. He’s 21, he’s fierce and amazing, and he’s teaching me about rap. But he also grew up with banjo.

You’re such a versatile artist. Is there any genre of music you feel that you couldn’t do?

I’d stay out of death metal. It’d probably wreck my voice.