A Conversation with Naomi André

Seattle Opera Scholar in Residence

Dr. Naomi André at the 2019 Community Conversation “Black Representation in the Arts.” © Sunny Martini.

Seattle Opera appointed its first Scholar in Residence, musicologist Naomi André, back in 2019. In that role, Professor André has written program essays, given Opera Talks, and appeared on panels in our Community Conversations series. Next week, in conjunction with the opening of La traviata, Professor André will lead a new, two-part Opera Class on the works of Giuseppe Verdi. Seattle Opera recently sat down with Professor André to learn more about her time as Scholar in Residence, what audiences can expect from her upcoming class, and why it’s important to analyze the art we love.

Black Opera

The Afro Future

By Naomi André, Ph.D.

In 2017, Opera Philadelphia presented We Shall Not Be Moved, a new work by composer Daniel Bernard Roumain and librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. The opera follows five North Philadelphia teens as they find refuge at the headquarters of the MOVE organization, where a 1985 standoff with police infamously ended with a neighborhood destroyed and 11 people dead.

In her final essay of this three-part series, Seattle Opera Scholar-in-Residence Naomi André speculates about the future of Black Opera. Using the lens of Afrofuturism—a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history, and fantasy to explore the African American experience and aims to connect those from the Black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry—André charts one path forward. In this essay, she uses historic events, music, and the writings of Octavia E. Butler to point the way.

Naomi André is a professor in the University of Michigan, where her teaching and research focus 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 publications include Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement and African Performance Arts and Political Acts (2021), which she co-edited. She has served as Seattle Opera’s Scholar-in-Residence since 2019.

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.

Hip-hop and Opera

Michael Wansley, pianist David McDade, and other members of the Seattle Opera Porgy and Bess chorus perform the hook from Macklemore's song "Thrift Shop" in 2018.

In honor of Hip-hop Celebration Day on August 11, we're exploring a few of our favorite opera/hip-hop intersections. From a new take on The Barber of Seville set in a Black barber shop, to Beyoncé's provocative performances, to previous Seattle Opera's collaborations with graffiti artists, and more—enjoy a few moments where these genres have blended to create something new.

Lessons in 'Adulting' from Puccini’s La bohème

Seattle Opera marketing image for La bohème. Philip Newton photo. Tinashe and Brennin Hunt in RENT Live on Fox

By Naomi André

In this post, I write from my own perspective—a college professor—who teaches students the same age as the young artists from La bohème. An important lesson my students teach me is that times have changed: No matter how much I think I understand (or remember) from my own path in life, I am constantly bumping into how the transition from student to professional is very different than when I graduated.

Whether set in the 1830s Parisian Latin Quarter, the recent past, or in the present, Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème (1896) never stops teaching us about what it means to grow up. This opera occupies an uncanny position in the repertoire: while fitting within the norms of its time, the work also broke new ground. Today, bohème hits close to home for a new reason. Rather than tuberculosis—a key element in Puccini’s opera—we are living in the time of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

Seattle Opera Unveils 2020/21 Season

Photos: © Philip Newton; © Philip Newton; © Faye Fox; © Bree Anne Clowdus; © Philip Newton; © Philip Newton; © Elise Bakketun

Seattle Opera has just unveiled its 2020/21 season—a year that highlights opera’s rich past, and its bold, diverse future. Audiences will be treated to beloved classics Tosca and Don Giovanni, as well as a contemporary work Flight, inspired by the true story of stateless refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who was stranded for 18 years and forced to live in the Charles de Gaulle airport. The romantic comedy The Elixir of Love and the double-bill Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci will all be performed for the first time in decades.

Seattle Opera presents Eugene Onegin

Seattle Opera presents Eugene Onegin in January 2020. Philip Newton photo

Ring in the new year with a Russian romance; experience a journey through poetry and tormented love in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. January 11–25, 2020 at McCaw Hall. Tickets start at $35

Leave everyday life in Puget Sound behind this January and step into the splendor of 1800s Russia. Seattle Opera’s Eugene Onegin will offer audiences lush orchestrations by Tchaikovsky, elegant ballroom dances, grand sets, and period costumes worthy of The Last Czars on Netflix.

Tchaikovsky, famous Russian composer of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, wasn’t a fan of grand opera when he wrote the opera Eugene Onegin (pronounced “oh-NYAY-ghin,” where the “G” is like “goose”) in 1877. He found works like Wagner’s Ring or Verdi’s Aida to be difficult for everyday people to relate to. Thus, he chose a ubiquitous work of Russian literature, Pushkin’s famous novel in verse Eugene Onegin, as the subject of his opera.

“Alexander Pushkin is to Russian what William Shakespeare is to English,” said Seattle Opera General Director Christina Scheppelmann. “Still today Russians read and study Pushkin's Eugene Onegin in school—a story without a happily-ever-after, but one that offers an incomparable journey through beauty, poetry, and romance.”

Jessye Norman: legacy

Matt Campbell—AFP/Getty Images

By Naomi André, Seattle Opera Scholar in Residence 

There are so many things to think about as we celebrate the legacy of Jessye Norman’s life. Her passing this week came as such an unwelcomed shock to me not because of anything I knew about her health, but because as I entered adulthood in the 1980s, Jessye Norman had always been someone I could count on to be there. Many people who know her roles in opera or heard her perform live, know of the velvety, warm sonic soundscape of her voice. But it was much more than just a voice—she embodied a presence for me, and, I suspect, for many others.

Destructive parents, toxic masculinity, and bad decisions

Rigoletto, Opera Queensland, 2014 © Stephanie Do Rozario

Rigoletto is an opera where a lot of things are frequently seen to be either black or white. The Duke’s court is evil and vicious. Gilda is innocent and pure. Rigoletto is an overprotective father. Bad triumphs over good. It's true—this is an opera with a tragic ending where so many things go wrong. Yet this is also a reductive view of the opera that says very little about its essence, the depth of the characters’ humanity, and what keeps drawing us back.

By Naomi André, PhD

Seattle Opera appoints Professor Naomi André as Scholar in Residence

Dr. Naomi André

Musicologist, writer, and opera-lover Naomi André has been appointed Seattle Opera’s inaugural Scholar in Residence. She is the author of Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement, which The New York Times describes as “A necessary exploration of how race has shaped the opera landscape in the United States and South Africa.” Additionally, André works as a professor at the University of Michigan, teaching Women’s Studies, Afroamerican/African Studies, and more.

“Professor André’s research and commentary places this art form in the middle of some of today’s most challenging social issues, like racial equity and gender representation,” said Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Seattle Opera Director of Programs and Partnerships. “We are honored to formalize our relationship with her. Naomi’s deep knowledge of the art form and social perspective will help us broaden our storytelling and create an inclusive space for diverse communities at the opera.”