South Shore Opera Company of
Chicago is working on a new historical
cultural project for October 30, 2016,
Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That
Line to Freedom, a new opera by
composer Nkeiru Okoye.
OCTOBER 28. MAKING AN
OPERA: South Shore Opera’s Harriet
Tubman Project.
A Conversation with Composer and
Librettist Nkeiru Okoye and members
of the Artistic Team and arias and
music from the Opera.
7PM. Logan Center for the Arts, University
7PM. Logan Center for the Arts, University
of Chicago, 915 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL
60637. $20 general adm. at the door. Free
parking on site.
OCTOBER 30. ANNUAL TICKETED
EVENT AND OPERA PERFORMANCE.
Chicago premiere with enhanced chamber
orchestra.
SOUTH SHORE CULTURAL CENTER,
7059 South Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60649
RECEPTION/AUCTION 4PM │OPERA 5:00PM│
Dinner and ENTERTAINMENT 7-9pm $250
▪ OPERA/Reception $75
▪ OPERA/Reception $75
Leading this project is a team of Chicago’s
highly accomplished music professionals,
Leslie B. Dunner, premiere American conductor;
Chuck Smith, director (Goodman Theater); and
Miguel de la Cerna, composer and pianist. In
addition, the South Shore Opera Company is
pleased to have serving as Honorary Chair, Amy
Rule, First Lady of Chicago, as well as the
composer, Nkeiru Okoye.
Harriet Tubman hailed as “an emotionally
charged and musically sublime experience”
by the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER,
Nkeiru Okoye’s compositions have been
performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra,
Detroit Symphony, Virginia Symphony,
Indianapolis Symphony, and countless
regional orchestras. Okoye’s opera, HARRIET
TUBMAN: When I Crossed that Line to
Freedom received a 2013 works grant from
the National Endowments for the Arts. Dr.
Okoye is the Director of Music Theory and
Composition at the State University of New
York at New Paltz where she teaches harmony,
orchestration, and composition.
PROJECT- HARRIET TUBMAN: WHEN I
CROSSED THAT LINE TO FREEDOM
OPERA
HARRIET TUBMAN is a two act opera that
tells how a young girl, born in slavery becomes
Harriet Tubman, the legendary Underground
Railroad conductor. Based on recent Tubman
biographies, the story is narrated and told in the
context of Tubman’s tight-knit family of lively
characters.
HARRIET TUBMAN carries the universal
themes of sisterhood, courage, sacrifice and
doing what is necessary to keep a family together.
Moreover, it is a heartwarming tale of two sisters
vowing that nothing but death will separate them,
despite the slavery threatening to tear them apart.
Headlining the extraordinary Chicago cast of
Harriet is powerful soprano Joelle Lamarre,
Northwestern University alumna and recipient of
the Bravo award from the Bel Canto Foundation.
Composer – Nkeiru Okoye
Conductor – Leslie B. Dunner
Director – Chuck Smith
Pianist - Miguel De la Cerna
Protagonist – Joelle Lamarre
Cast - 13 opera singers (five principal artists)
Chorus - 16 opera singers
Orchestra - 18-piece orchestra
Production Staff – 8
SOUTH SHORE OPERA COMPANY OF
CHICAGO
South Shore Cultural Center (A Chicago
Landmark)
7059 South Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60649
South Shore Opera is an opera company based
in the South Shore community of Chicago,
founded in 2008 by artist and professor Dr.
Marvin Lynn in partnership with the Advisory
Council of the South Shore Cultural Center.
The company provides two free performances
annually showcasing the operatic talents of
some of Chicago’s best opera singers, affording
them the opportunity to share their musical gifts
with large audiences and presenting the work of
forgotten Black composers. The company has
achieved unequaled success presenting 21 opera
productions with attendance over 1000 at our
inaugural concert in 2009, and averaging more
than 400 since that time. We have employed over
150 local artists and musicians and give at least
five to six annual opera performances to Chicago
public elementary and high schools.
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