For half a century, Opera Ebony has been one of the guiding lights for black performers seeking to make their mark in the world of opera. Born out of a need to develop often-overlooked talent, the company has given many singers a much-needed break in the industry.
“Opera Ebony literally started in this living room,” Wayne Sanders, the company’s 81-year-old co-founder, told NPR.
/ Wayne Sanders
/
wayne sanders
His Upper West Side apartment, filled with heavy antiques, is where he started his company in 1973, with a white nun named Sister Mary Elise Sisson and his longtime roommate and friend. Also, fellow musician Benjamin Matthews was with us.
The trio was concerned about the lack of opportunities for black performers and helping young musicians experience opera early.
“You have to sing all this music, you have to experience it, and the world needs to hear you.
The world listened to Opera Ebony. For decades, the company has focused on black voices and toured internationally in venues large and small. Blacks had the opportunity to participate fully in opera, directing and designing sets and costumes, and performing in orchestras.
The endurance of Opera Ebony is astonishing, said Naomi Andre, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill who works on issues related to opera and gender, voice and race. Company,” she explained to NPR.
André pointed out that when Opera Ebony began in 1973, some black female opera singers, such as Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, rose to prominence. But at the time, she said, it was difficult for a black male performer to appear in an opera with a white female singer.
“I had a love for Virginia that allowed interracial couples to be legal in America in 1967,” she observed. Acting is a big thing…some people paused. ”
/opera ebony
/
opera ebony
This was also the moment of the Black Arts Movement. Artists such as Benjamin Matthews and Wayne Sanders explored not only traditional classical works, but also music that reflected the African-American experience. Spiritual, work, his songs, jazz and gospel were all included in his Opera Ebony repertoire, shedding light on an often neglected black composer.The company commissioned several original works, including Frederick Douglass by Dorothy Ladd Moore in 1985 sojourner truth The following year, by Valerie Capers, outcast 1990 by Noah Ain.
“It wasn’t common at the time, so we had to make sure we continued to make a lot of our own music,” Sanders said.
Opera Ebony helped change the landscape of classical music, but now the company is in trouble. The organization, which once averaged three shows a year, has dwindled to just one, and 81-year-old co-founder Wayne Sanders is frail and ailing. But he believes Opera Ebony will last longer.
“We’ve shown that black people can leave footprints wherever they go,” Sanders said.
The story of Sanders’ life is like an opera. He and his friends took risks and insisted on putting black art and artists at the center and making the music they loved.
Copyright 2023 NPR. For more information, please visit https://www.npr.org.
Other Articles
![Nia Asiel’s new single “Ten Toes” brings an innovative fusion of R&B, soul, and hip-hop [Video]](https://earmilk.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/A.jpg "Nia Asiel’s new single “Ten Toes” brings an innovative fusion of R&B, soul, and hip-hop [Video]")
