Wentzel Lecture Series: The Potential of Operatic Spaces Today
For many, the opera house conjures images of a past glory that has faded in importance and relevance. Yet even though its stodginess might seem out of date, today operatic spaces are being transformed in multiple ways that speak directly to our current realities. As the canonic repertory is performed in thoughtful and provocative productions, the people involved with opera (performers, directors, administrators) are expanding the way familiar stories are being told. Additionally, the types of narratives being portrayed include inventive and ground-breaking themes and situations. The most compelling opera companies are presenting traditional operas in novel ways along with creating paths for innovative newer works. A key element in opera today is for the audience to see something that connects to who they are and represents a wide range of experiences and situations. In this talk I explore these themes that set the groundwork for expanding my model of an engaged musicology into the next level with a more activist stance. This presentation will also include discussions of Winnie: The Opera (Ndodana-Breen/Wilensky/Vundla) and Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Blanchard/Lemmons).
Naomi André is the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan in Afroamerican and African Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Residential College. Her publications include the books Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement and Voicing Gender: Castrati, Travesti, and the Second Woman in Early Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera and co-edited collections Blackness in Opera; African Performance Arts and Political Acts; and The Music of Mzilikazi Khumalo: Language, Culture, and Song in South Africa. Actively engaged with performance today, she has worked with opera companies, symphonies, and is a founding member of the Black Opera Research Network (BORN). She was the inaugural Scholar in Residence at the Seattle Opera (2019-2024) and currently serves on the Boards of the American Musicological Society, the Kurt Weill Foundation, and Detroit Opera.