A New Orleans Company Shines A Light On Opera’s Diverse History

Posted in Articles, Arts, Audio, History, Interviews, Louisiana, Media Archive, United States on 2022-02-08 00:07Z by Steven

A New Orleans Company Shines A Light On Opera’s Diverse History

Weekend Edition Sunday
National Public Radio
2017-05-28

Malika Gumpangkum and Lulu Garcia-Navarro

From left to right: Aria Mason (Rosalia), Ebonee Davis (Piquita) and Kenya Lawrence Jackson (La Flamenca) star in OperaCréole’s production of La Flamenca.
Cedric A. Ellsworth/Courtesy of OperaCréole

For many people, New Orleans is practically synonymous with jazz; it’s the birthplace of both the music and many of its leading lights, from Louis Armstrong to Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. But now, one organization is working to draw attention to the city’s history of opera music.

OperaCréole, an opera company founded in New Orleans, is resurrecting music written by local composers of color and others who’ve been left out of the overwhelmingly white, male canon. The company’s latest production, La Flamenca, is by the Creole composer Lucien-Léon Guillaume Lambert, whose father was born in New Orleans.

OperaCréole founder and mezzo-soprano Givonna Joseph joined NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro to discuss La Flamenca and her company’s work in general. Hear their full conversation at the audio link…

Listen the entire story here.

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