The opera, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis, debuted in 1986. This new performance will be staged just a short distance from the house in the Roxbury neighborhood where Malcolm X (1925-1965), born Malcolm Little, lived during his formative adolescence.
Read MoreDo you remember the first time you went to go see a live production of an opera? Maybe it was during a school field trip, or for a date that you wanted to impress. I’ve met people whose first experience in an opera house was born out of a pure curiosity that led to the purchase of a ticket.
Everyone has a different story about their introduction to this art form, but what isn’t engaged as much is the residual emotional impact of said introduction. For me, the introduction came by way of performing on the stage, but I wasn’t able to measure the emotional impact opera had on me until I engaged opera as an audience member.
Read MoreDiversity, equity, and inclusion, as engaged by arts institutions across the country, have centered performers, but what about audience members? With a few exceptions (including the diverse audience turnout for the Metropolitan Opera’s “Fire Shut Up In My Bones”), opera audiences remain predominantly white.
The creation of a fictional, white character in “Emmett Till” for the sake of affirming the feelings of these predominantly white audiences is not only a perpetuation of a status quo that countless arts administrators, advocates, and activists work to dismantle, but a celebration of it.
Read MoreThe National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale, in partnership with The Washington Chorus, will present the world premiere of composer Adolphus Hailstork and librettist Herbert Martin’s Requiem Cantata in memory of George Floyd: “America’s Requiem – A Knee on The Neck” on March 26 and March 28 in Bethesda, MD.
Read MoreWear Yellow Proudly will present “Girls of Yellow Diamonds” a concert featuring Asian women composers and poets Friday, March 11 at 7:30 pm. ET at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
The event aims to uplift the stories of Asian women, honor the memory of the victims of the March 2021 Atlanta shootings, and celebrate International Women’s Day. Mezzo-sopranos Alice Chung, Sophia Maekawa, Pauline Tan, and pianist Ting Ting Wong will perform.
Read MoreThe International Contemporary Ensemble, in partnership with Opera Omaha and FringeArts, presents the Afro-Diasporic Opera Forum online from May 26-28.
The Forum is a free, three-day series of online events produced by colleagues and collaborators of the International Contemporary Ensemble to celebrate, share, and reflect on four operas that have made a major impact on the organization and its collaborators.
Read MoreLyric Opera of Chicago’s 2020-21 entirely virtual season (having canceled all in person mainstage performances due to the pandemic), has commenced with performances celebrating Black excellence and Latine music traditions.
Read MoreBaruch College Performing Arts Center and Opera Omaha will stream the virtual premiere of “dwb” (Driving While Black) from October 23 to October 29.
Composed by Susan Kander, sung by soprano and librettist, Roberta Gumbel, and performed on cello and percussion by New Morse Code (Hannah Collins, cello, and Michael Compitello, percussion).
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