Speakeysie News Desk
THE ATLANTA OPERA’S “96-HOUR OPERA PROJECT”
NEW OPERA SPOTLIGHTING CARRIE STEELE LOGAN
WINS SHOWCASE COMPETITION
COMPOSER & LIBRETTIST SHARE $10,000 PRIZE,
RECEIVE COMMISSION FROM THE ATLANTA OPERA
NEW WORK PROFILING BLACK PHOTOGRAPHER THOMAS ASKEW
NAMED RUNNER-UP AND AUDIENCE FAVORITE
ATLANTA – June 13, 2023 – In front of a packed house last night at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College, composer Dave Ragland and librettist Selda Sahin won the second annual 96-Hour Opera Project from The Atlanta Opera. Their work, Steele Roots, profiled Carrie Steele Logan, a 19th-century Black woman whose legacy of serving orphans carries through to today with the orphanage she founded, the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home in Atlanta.
Now in its 2nd year and hosted in partnership with Morehouse College School of Music, 96-Hour Opera Project is a composition showcase and competition in which five teams of composers and librettists were selected and had two months to write and four days to rehearse and prepare completely new and compelling 10-minute operas. The competition ran from June 9th through June 12th with a showcase of performances on the final evening.
“With such talented participants, the judges had quite a challenge choosing our winners,” says Tomer Zvulun, Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera. “These creators brought us words with both poetry and humor paired with musical scores in a variety of styles. These premieres were a real joy to witness.”
Each team was invited to select the life of a groundbreaking Georgian to profile in their composition. The figures were chosen by The Atlanta Opera and the teams were assisted in further research by the Oakland Historical Foundation and Atlanta History Center.
In the judged competition, Faces in the Flames, a look at the life of Black photographer Thomas Askew, by composer Nathan Felix and librettist Anita Gonzalez was selected as Runner-Up. The team also took home the award as Audience Favorite, selected by popular vote.
Ragland and Sahin will share the $10,000 Antinori Foundation Grand Prize and a commission from The Atlanta Opera to write a chamber opera. The remaining eight finalists received a $1,000 honorarium. Travel, housing, singers, pianists, and rehearsal space were provided by The Atlanta Opera with support from Morehouse College.
In addition to the new works showcase, audiences were treated to a preview of the darkly comic Forsyth County is Flooding (With the Joy of Lake Lanier), a new work commissioned from the 2022 winners of this competition Marcus Norris and Adamma Ebo. Their winning work in last year’s competition, titled Go On With That Wind, imagined the reactions of a Morehouse Glee Club singer who had been invited to sing at a party celebrating the 1939 premier of Gone With The Wind.
About the 96-Hour Opera Project
The competition features five teams of composers and librettists, chosen through a competitive application process, bringing their new 10-minute work to Atlanta and then rehearsing their completely new mini-operas over four intensive days. The winning team, selected by a distinguished panel of judges, is awarded the Antinori Foundation Grand Prize: $10,000 and a commission to write an opera for The Atlanta Opera to produce in an upcoming season.
For this year’s competition, each team was tasked with spotlighting one of three historical figures, notable people from Atlanta’s history who are all but forgotten. Research and story support was provided by Oakland Cemetery Foundation and Atlanta History Center for the historic Atlantans Dr. Blanche Beatrice Saunders Thompson (c.1875 – 1964), one of the first Black physicians to perform surgery in Georgia; Carrie Steele Logan (1829 – 1900), founder of the oldest Black orphanage in America; and Thomas Askew (c.1847 – 1914), a prominent Black photographer.
“The rich history of Atlanta rests not only in the lives of the most famous but in the courage and strength of even the most unacclaimed people,” said Zvulun. “Our goals are to lift up the inspirational stories that reflect the multicultural history of Atlanta, to amplify the voices of a diverse group of talented emerging creators, and to share these new creations with Atlanta music lovers.”
A short synopsis of each team’s work can be found at the end of this release.
A distinguished panel of judges served. They were:
Mark Campbell, a Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning librettist/lyricist.
Andrea Davis Pinkney, an acclaimed librettist and award-winning author.
Priti Gandhi, Artistic Director for Portland Opera.
Doug Hooker, CEO of the Midtown Connector Park project. Mr. Hooker also served as MC for the event.
Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, Co-Interim Artistic Director of the Alliance Theater.
International opera star and Grammy Award-winning vocalist Morris Robinson served as artistic advisor for this year’s competition, a post he held last year as well.
Camille Russell Love, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, announced the winners and presented the awards.
The 96-Hour Opera Project is sponsored by the UPS Foundation and The Rich Foundation. The Grand Prize is supported by The Antinori Foundation.
The 96-Hour Opera Project is also supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. GCA also receives support from its partner agency—the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.
More information about the composers, librettists, and judges can be found here. https://www.atlantaopera.org/competition/
96-Hour Opera Project Finalist Operas
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
STEELE ROOTS, By Dave Ragland and Selda Sahin
Historical Figure Chosen: Carrie Steele Logan
In 1887 Atlanta, a 50-something Carrie Steele Logan stands in Central Railroad Station holding a baby. Michael, a man in his 20s in modern-day clothes exits a train, and we transition to the present-day Oakland Graveyard, and as Michael stands at Carrie’s grave, we realize that he is a descendant of one of the many abandoned babies Carrie saved and cared for long ago. In a nebulous, abstract merging of time and place, we learn that the baby Carrie holds is Michael’s.
AUDIENCE FAVORITE AND SECOND-PLACE WINNER
FACES IN THE FLAMES, By Nathan Felix and Anita Gonzalez
Historical Figure Chosen: Thomas Askew
Picture frames and haunting memories emerge from the embers of the Atlanta fire as a mother and daughter remember the legacy of Thomas Askew. His photos of their dignity endure when all is lost, and the world is aflame.
THE COST OF HEALING, By Edward Shilts and Laura Barati
Historical Figure Chosen: Dr. Blanche Beatrice Saunders Thompson
Inspired by the life of Dr. Beatrice Blanche Saunders Thompson, one of the first Black physicians to perform surgery in Georgia and a trailblazer in her field, The Cost of Healing follows Dr. Saunders as she coaches struggling med student (and her future husband) Sidney Thompson during her patient rounds. When Dr. Saunders and Sidney clash over her response to a prejudiced patient, Beatrice pushes Sidney to imagine the impossible expectations a Black, Southern, female physician in 1903 must navigate. The Cost of Healing is both a celebration of Dr. Beatrice Blanche Saunders’ tenacious spirit and an exploration of the challenges of Black Excellence.
THE GARDENER, By Jorge Sosa and Alejandra Martinez
Historical Figure Chosen: Carrie Steele Logan
The year is 1900. We see a young woman crying on the tomb of Carrie Steele Logan, in Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta. As she mourns, the scene transitions to the day when her birth mother met Carrie at the Atlanta Train Depot. Her mother was about to abandon her baby, as she was not able to parent the child herself. Carrie convinces her to leave the child in her care. She will become her parent. Carrie has a revelation; she will work to provide a home for children in need. “It is appointed to me in my old age to accomplish what I believe to be a great and glorious work,” … “and one that shall live long after my poor frail body has dropped into the dust whence it came.”
A PORTRAIT, By Omar Najmi and Catherine Yu
Historical Figure Chosen: Thomas Askew
It is the spring of 1900, and Thomas Askew’s prominence as a photographer is rising. He is in his studio taking the portrait of a realist schoolmistress who challenges his ideals. They are both Republicans, the party of President Lincoln, but their discussion is charged with the nuances within the party. Where will the dust settle when their conversation ends?
About The Atlanta Opera
The Atlanta Opera’s mission is to be the major international opera company that Atlanta deserves while reimagining what opera can be. Founded in 1979, the company works with world-renowned singers, conductors, directors, and designers who seek to enhance the art form. Under the leadership of internationally recognized stage director and Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, The Atlanta Opera expanded from three to four mainstage productions at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and launched the acclaimed Discoveries Series and the innovative 96-Hour Opera Project. In recent years, the company has been named among the “Best of 2015” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has been nominated for a 2016 International Opera Award, and won ArtsATL’s 2019 Luminary Award for Community Engagement in recognition of its successful Veterans Program in partnership with the Home Depot Foundation. In addition, The Atlanta Opera was featured in a 2018 Harvard Business School case study about successful organizational growth, and Zvulun presented a TEDx Talk at Emory University titled “The Ambidextrous Opera Company, or Opera in the Age of iPhones.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Atlanta Opera was one of the only companies in the world to create a full, alternative season, consisting of no less than 40 live performances in two different outdoor venues, including a revolutionary custom-designed circus tent. The fundraising goal was tripled, and four new productions were created, each of which employed 150 cast members, crew, and staff. The critically acclaimed productions and concerts were streamed in HD in the newly created streaming platform “Spotlight Media,” allowing The Atlanta Opera to reach a global audience. National media coverage of the “pandemic season” included features in the Wall Street Journal and PBS NewsHour.
For more information, visit atlantaopera.org.
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