Local vocalists and musicians, as well students and faculty members from Colby College, performed “The Black Azaleas Song Cycle” from “Post Pardon: The Opera” on Oct. 5 at the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts at Colby in Waterville.
Presented as part of the Maine Literary Festival, about 100 people attended the performance. It introduces the group of eco-activists at the heart of “Post Pardon,” an opera-in-development that is adapted from Arisa White’s poetry collection of the same name, published in 2011.
The performance was conducted by Marshunda Smith. With music by jazz composer Jessica Jones, the opera draws on African diasporic spirituality and folklore to tell the story of Willow, a queer Black Azalea confronted with the ghost of her estranged mother.
White, a poet, librettist and Colby College faculty member, and Jones have been collaborating for more than 10 years to bring “Post Pardon: The Opera” to life.
The performance was held in collaboration with Colby Arts and funded by the Maine Arts Commission. To learn more, go to postpardon.org.
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