Selby and Richard McRae Foundation

Joplin’s uplifting opera featuring full orchestra on stage, a star-studded cast of national/local singers, and the choirs of Jackson State University, Mississippi College and Tougaloo College.

In African American composer Scott Joplin’s opera, Treemonisha, the libretto (written by Joplin), portrays a young woman on a former slave plantation who, educated during her youth, rallies her community against superstition and ignorance. Although she faces hostility for it, she is successful in helping them understand that education is the key to success and they ultimately choose her to lead them on this path.

In celebration of the Mississippi Bicentennial, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra will presents this concert performance of Treemonisha as an offering that looks forward through the lens of our shared history.