Composer Mary D. Watkins, Photo Credit: Composers Now
In Boston, a remarkable new opera is being premiered this weekend. “Is This America? The Fannie Lou Hamer Story,” composed by Mary D. Watkins, with a libretto by Watkins and Cerise Jacobs. In this interview that aired on Boston’s WBUR, Mary Watkins describes how she decided to write an opera on the Civil Rights Movement and Fannie Lou Hamer in particular. A passage of Hamer’s impactful “Is This America” speech set to music is heard in rehearsal.
The Boston Globe has this article on the production and how it came to be.
The Boston Musical Intelligencer interviews Conductor Tianhui Ng about his long involvement with Watkins’ music (including a production of an earlier version of this opera) and White Snake Projects role as an activist opera company.
Tickets are available here, and learn more on the White Snake Projects’ website.
