![]() ![]() Spirituals, work songs, jazz and gospel, all were included in Opera Ebony's repertoire, highlighting often neglected Black composers. Artists like Benjamin Matthews and Wayne Sanders were not just exploring traditional classical pieces but also music reflecting African American experiences. This was also the moment of the Black Arts Movement. Opera Ebony Opera Ebony's 1980 production of Carmen in Philadelphia. I don't know any other Black opera company that has continued that long," she explained to NPR. Opera Ebony's endurance is remarkable, said Professor Naomi Andre, who works on opera and issues surrounding gender, voice, and race at UNC-Chapel Hill."I mean 50 years! That's huge for American opera companies. Black people participated in opera, wholly, receiving opportunities to direct, design sets and costumes and play in the orchestra. For decades, the company toured internationally, in venues large and small, centering Black voices. "You needed to be singing all this music and you need to have that experience with it and the world needs to hear you," Sanders said. The trio was concerned about the lack of opportunities for Black performers and helping young musicians to experience opera early. His Upper West Side apartment, filled with heavy antiques, was where he started the company in 1973, along with a white nun named Sister Mary Elise Sisson and his long-term roommate, friend and fellow musician Benjamin Mathews. ![]() Wayne Sanders Opera Ebony co-founder Wayne Sanders
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