Brooklyn, New York - National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman announced last week that AOP (American Opera Projects)
is one of 832 non-profit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art
Works grant. AOP is recommended for a $15,000 grant to support the
creation, development and presentation of Nkeiru Okoye's folk opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed the Line to Freedom,
during 2013, the 100th anniversary year of Tubman's death and the 150th
anniversary of The Emancipation Proclamation. Performances of the opera
will occur in states along the Underground Railroad where Tubman was
active.
"I'm proud to announce these 832 grants to the American public including AOP's Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed the Line to Freedom,"
said Chairman Landesman. "These projects offer extraordinary examples
of creativity in our country, including the creation of new work,
innovative ways of engaging audiences, and exemplary education
programs."
Charles Jarden, General Director of AOP, states "AOP
is grateful to the NEA for their support of new work, especially new
opera. Harriet Tubman is the fourth AOP opera in four years to
receive NEA funds. With the aid of this generous support AOP has
launched four stylistically different, artistically excellent projects
that have had and will continue for many years to have an impact on
citizens of our county. AOP commissioned Nkeiru Okoye for songs in our I
HEAR AMERICA SINGING program, through funds from New York City's
Department of Cultural Affairs, and we witnessed the powerful impact of
her music on the general public when we performed them in various inner
city locations. We are thrilled to be working with Nkeiru on her first
opera and her choice of the Tubman story is perfect for AOP, a
Brooklyn-based opera company."
In March 2012, the NEA received
1,509 eligible applications for Art Works requesting more than $74
million in funding. The 832 recommended NEA grants total $22.3 million,
span 13 artistic disciplines and fields, and focus primarily on the
creation of work and presentation of both new and existing works for the
benefit of American audiences. Applications were reviewed by panels of
outside experts convened by NEA staff and each project was judged on its
artistic excellence and artistic merit.
As part of AOP First Chance, a public workshop series for developing new opera and music-theater works, music from Harriet Tubman
has been presented at several New York City venues including Galapagos
Art Space and the Brooklyn Public Library. It has also received libretto
development in closed workshop sessions at AOP. Sample videos may be
viewed at the opera's First Chance page on the AOP website at http://operaprojects.org/tubman.
For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov. |
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
A native New Yorker of African American and Nigerian descent, Nkeiru Okoye
has had her music performed on four continents. Okoye's penchant for
infusing popular and non-Western influences in a 'classical' framework
shows in her most performed works, SONGS OF HARRIET TUBMAN (2007), the
precursor for her opera, PHILLIS WHEATLEY (2005, commissioned by the
Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and recorded by the Moscow Symphony), VOICES
SHOUTING OUT (2002); RUTH: an Orchestral Choreopoem, (1998); THE
GENESIS (1997) and AFRICAN SKETCHES. Okoye's orchestral works have been
performed by the Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, Virginia, Grand
Rapids, Indianapolis, Mississippi, Richmond, New Jersey Chamber,
Cambridge Symphony, Western Piedmont, Rutgers University, Central
Jersey, Hopkins, and New Horizons Symphony orchestras. Okoye has gotten
awards, commissions and commendations from MEET THE COMPOSER, MetLife
Creative Connections, John Duffy Composer Institute, Composer's
Collaborative, Inc., Yvar Mikhashov Trust for New Music (1999); and
numerous awards by the NAACP. Okoye is a frequent guest lecturer and
panelist. In 2005, Okoye was a composer mentor at the University of
Ghana for the International Society of Contemporary Music's World New
Music Days. In 2007, Okoye was honored at Nigeria's 40under40 ceremony,
in Lagos. Nkeiru Okoye (in KEAR roo oh KOY yeh) has BM in composition
from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and an MA and a Ph.D. in theory and
composition from Rutgers University. In addition to being a composer,
Dr. Okoye is a soft sculpture artist/creator of the "Canbie Collection"
of multicultural dolls, which may be found in museums and galleries
nationwide, including the Smithsonian.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCER
For 25 years, AOP (American Opera Projects)
has been creating, developing and presenting new American opera and
music theatre projects. AOP, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has
produced over 20 world premiere operas including Patience & Sarah (1998), Stefan Weisman's Darkling (2006), Lee Hoiby's This is the Rill Speaking (2008), and Phil Kline's Out Cold
(2012), part of BAM's 30th Next Wave Festival. AOP produces concerts
and events including presentations of new music at Works and Process at
the Guggenheim, the Rubin Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall.
AOP-developed projects include Stephen Schwartz's Séance on a Wet Afternoon (New York City Opera, 2011), Jorge Martín's Before Night Falls (Fort Worth Opera, 2010), Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness (Royal Opera House (UK), 2011), and Jack Perla's Love/Hate (ODC Theater and San Francisco Opera, 2012). UPCOMING: Gregory Spears's Paul's Case (UrbanArias, and Roulette, 2013).
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