I am thrilled to announce that my opera about civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer, will be receiving a fully-staged professional production in Boston next month. Is This America? will be produced by White Snake Projects at the beautiful Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Boston, MA 02125 on Friday, September 20 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, September 21 at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, September 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 – $185.
It Takes A Village . . .
I am extremely grateful to White Snake’s Artistic Director, Cerise Lim Jacobs, and music director, Tianhui Ng, for their faith in me and my music. Tianhui conducted an earlier version of this piece called Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story at Mount Holyoke College back in 2014, and he has been a champion of my work for the past ten years. He persuaded Cerise to work as my dramaturg on the piece, and she has been working with me to re-shape and re-write the libretto for the past two years.
I am usually sitting by myself when I compose, but it takes a team to produce an opera. So many musicians, designers, technicians, and administrators have helped me move this piece forward over the past 15 years.
The original version was presented by the Oakland Opera Theater in 2009, conducted by Deirdre McClure and directed by Darryl V. Jones.
Martha Richards of WomenArts saw that Oakland production and then raised the funds for the workshop version at Mount Holyoke College in 2014 and the concert presentation at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta in 2016, conducted by Qiao Chen Solomon. Thanks so much to everyone!
The New, Improved Version
Fannie Lou Hamer was one of the first African-Americans to register to vote in Mississippi in the 1960s, and she endured death threats, beatings, and imprisonment to obtain voting rights for her people. During a nationally-televised speech in 1964, she described the terrifying ways that she and other activists were being treated and asked, “Is this America?” That question is now the title of the opera.
Cerise helped me cut some of the peripheral historical figures in the opera, and focus more on Fannie Lou. Although the piece is shorter, I wrote two new arias for Fannie Lou, and I lowered the range so that her role can be played by a mezzo-soprano instead of a soprano this time. Hopefully, the lower pitch will make it easier for people to understand Fannie Lou Hamer’s powerful words.
It is so exciting that we are doing this opera at a time when an African-American woman is running for president! Fannie Lou Hamer’s story is a powerful reminder of how hard people had to fight to get us this far.
I am in Boston this week for the first rehearsals with the full cast and I will be sending more pictures and trailers soon.