{"id":58658,"date":"2019-02-12T10:52:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T15:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=58658"},"modified":"2019-02-12T10:55:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T15:55:38","slug":"primer-toronto-public-library-to-host-symposium-on-black-opera-with-jessye-norman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/02\/12\/primer-toronto-public-library-to-host-symposium-on-black-opera-with-jessye-norman\/","title":{"rendered":"PRIMER | Toronto Public Library To Host Symposium On Black Opera With Jessye Norman"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Black
As part of a week of celebrations with soprano Jessye Norman, winner of the 12th Glenn Gould Prize, this symposium will trace the struggles of artists of African origin to enter the operatic world.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s pleasing that 2018 was the 10th anniversary of Parliamentary recognition of Black History month and <\/em>the year that Jessye Norman<\/a> was awarded the 12th Glenn Gould Prize.\u00a0 February is both Black History Month and the month in which the Glenn Gould Foundation celebrates its laureates, so the iconic opera star and civil rights activist\u2019s presence in Toronto provides the occasion for the daylong symposium Black Opera\u2014Uncovering Music History<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Co-sponsored by the Toronto Public Library and the Glenn Gould Foundation, the symposium welcomes eminent scholars, performers and musicologists who are experts in the history of the black musical experience in opera.\u00a0 Foremost among these is Dr. Naomi Andre, author of Black Opera:\u00a0 History, Power, and Engagement <\/em>who will tackle the challenging topic of cultural appropriation in a public conversation with well-known writer and broadcast Robert Harris.<\/p>\n

\u201cAppropriating is a complicated word,\u201c Andre told us in a phone conversation recently.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s an issue that hasn\u2019t been addressed in opera until quite recently, unlike in other art forms.\u201d\u00a0 Andre points out that in theatre, on television and in film, the practice of white performers playing black roles by using blackface makeup has virtually completely ceased.\u00a0 \u201cBut not in opera,\u201d observes Andre.\u00a0 \u201cVerdi\u2019s Otello<\/em> is about a Moor and Aida<\/em> is about an Ethiopian princess, and they are both regularly performed by white singers wearing blackface makeup. Nobody seems to talk about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get a stronger sense of how dissonant it is for white singers to perform in blackface, imagine a black performer playing a white character wearing whiteface makeup.\u00a0\u00a0 Imagine Oprah Winfrey playing Blanche Dubois, for example.\u00a0 Or Denzel Washington playing Willy Loman.\u00a0 Whether or not we thought it worked dramatically, it\u2019s highly likely that we would comment on it.\u00a0 Andre feels that discussion about these situations is important.<\/p>\n

In her conversation with Harris, Andre will refer to other works with racial content discussed in Black Opera, <\/em>such as Porgy and Bess<\/em>, as well as more recent operas that feature black experience such as\u00a0Winnie: The Opera <\/em>by Bongani Ndodana Breen. Her study of black opera is interdisciplinary, drawing on musicology, ethnomusicology, African Studies and cultural studies.\u00a0 The complexity of the black contribution to opera as performers and composers, as well as the complicated experience of being a black audience member will both be under discussion.<\/p>\n

The symposium will open with a concert featuring Nadine Anyan, Tristan Scott and Korin Thomas-Smith accompanied by pianist Angela Park, and conclude with a conversation with Jessye Norman.\u00a0 This event is but one of a series of events that begin February 11.\u00a0 Check www.glenngould.ca<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for details.<\/p>\n

+++<\/p>\n

Toronto Reference Library, Bram & Bluma Appel Salon, 789 Yonge Street
\nSaturday, February 16 from 11 AM to 5 PM.<\/p>\n

LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of a week of celebrations with soprano Jessye Norman, winner of the 12th Glenn Gould Prize, this symposium will trace the struggles of artists of African origin to enter the operatic world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":58662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25164,43,4557,15953,63],"tags":[1431,18505,3762],"yst_prominent_words":[26723,26722,26721,26717,19730,26714,26712,26720,10183,9021,10830,16993,10182,10832,16995,8802,18489,6886,26719,26715],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/02\/Black-Opera\u2014Uncovering-Music-History..jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-fg6","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58658"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58665,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58658\/revisions\/58665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58658"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=58658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}