A Conversation with Sheila Silver

The Composer of A Thousand Splendid Suns

Sheila Silver is an important voice in American music today. An award-winning composer, she has written for solo instruments, large orchestra, opera, and feature film. Audiences and critics praise her music as powerful, emotionally charged, accessible, and masterfully conceived. “Only few composers in any generation enliven the art form with their musical language and herald new directions in music. Sheila Silver is such a visionary.” (Wetterauer Zeitung, Germany)

 

Sheila spoke with Seattle Opera over Zoom for a chat that covered her inspirations for composing A Thousand Splendid Suns, her deep dive into Hindustani music, growing up in Seattle, and more.

Black Opera

The Golden Age

By Naomi André, Ph.D.

Will Liverman as Charles M. Blow in The Metropolitan Opera's premiere of Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard

Music scholar Naomi André describes the current state of Black Opera as the “Golden Age.” This is her second essay on Black Opera. André accounts the notable rise of African American singers and composers as well as the rise of productions that chronicle contemporary Black life. André’s first article appeared in the program of our recent production of La bohème. “Looking Back: A Historical Perspective” traces Black Opera beginning in the early 1800s through 1955. André's third essay—published in The Marriage of Figaro program—speculates on the future of the genre.

Naomi André is a professor at the University of Michigan, where her teaching and research focuses on opera and issues of surrounding gender, voice, and race. Her writings include topics on Italian opera, Schoenberg, women composers, and teaching opera in prisons. Her publications include Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement and co-editor of African Performance Arts and Political Acts (2021). She has served as Seattle Opera’s Scholar-in-Residence since 2019.

Black Opera

Looking Back: A Historical Perspective

By Naomi André, Ph.D.

The cast from National Negro Opera Company's 1941 production of Aida.

The opera world is currently presenting more productions that articulate African American experiences than ever before. Companies around the country are staging works such as Fire Shut Up in My Bones, Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, and The Central Park Five, to name a few. Therefore, Seattle Opera invited our Scholar-in-Residence, Naomi André, to place Black Opera in historical, contemporary, and future perspectives. This article by André is the first of a three-part series. In this essay, André highlights several historic milestones in Black Opera. Her second article—to be published in the Blue program—will investigate contemporary titles and artists. In her final piece—published in The Marriage of Figaro program—André speculates on future Black Opera stories and productions.

 

Naomi André is a professor at the University of Michigan, where her teaching and research focuses on opera and issues surrounding gender, voice, and race. Her writings include topics on Italian opera, Schoenberg, women composers, and teaching opera in prisons. Her latest publication is Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement.

What Blue Means to Me

 Artists Reflect on this Groundbreaking Opera

From left: Joshua Stewart (The Son), Briana Hunter (The Mother), and Kenneth Kellogg (The Father). Credit: Philip Newton

The cast members of Seattle Opera's upcoming production of Blue shared with Seattle Opera the impact that performing this poignant new opera has had on their lives, both personally and professionally. This is the second of two posts on Why Blue Matters, in the artists' own words.

Blue is the 2020 winner of Best New Opera from the Music Critics Association of North America, created by librettist Tazewell Thompson (five NAACP Awards, plus two Emmy nominations) and composer Jeanine Tesori (Tony-winner known for Fun Home). Seattle Opera's Blue runs Feb. 26 & 27 and March 2, 5, 9, 11, & 12, 2022 at McCaw Hall. Tickets & info at seattleopera.org/blue.