Opera Guild Lecture

The final opera lecture of the Fall is on Omar, music by Rhiannon Giddens, libretto by Michael Abels. The lecture will be on Wednesday, November 1 at 10AM. This 21 st Century opera, which won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music, premiered in 2022. It gives us a glimpse of the life of a well-educated African Muslim who was abducted by slavers and sold as a slave in Charleston, South Carolina. He had many tribulations, but ends up with a kind master who encourages him to write his biography which he does in Arabic and the translation of that document provides the background for the opera. Our lecturer is Leonard Hayes who was the principal pianist with the L.A. Opera Orchestra for their West Coast Premier of Omar. He is an artist-advocate of programming works by underrepresented composers, composers whose works he has presented in concerts, lectures, and workshops. With this experience, he has a terrific understanding of the music of Omar.

$10.00 for Non-members at the door
Free for JCC members