Jubilee: A Folk Opera Program

Jubilee: A Folk Opera 
Program

Jubilee: A Folk Opera Program

Cast

Conductor: Julius P Williams
Chorusmaster and Pianist: Daniel Fung
Rehearsal Pianist: Jungmin Youn
Margaret: Patrice Pates Eaton
Vyry: Jillian Tate
Innis Brown: Edwin Jhamal Davis
Randall Ware: Miles Wilson-Toliver
Young Jim: John Mugisho Mulaganire
Young Minna: Penelope Klark Stewart
Older Jim: Donte Wright
Older Mina: Julia Johnson
Miss Lillian: Charity Cooper
Big Missy: Janna Baty
Mr. Pippin: Matthew Newhouse
Ensemble: Alliese Bonner
Ensemble: Tommy Chang
Ensemble: Angelina Farrell
Ensemble: Ava Gaughan
Ensemble: Caris Green
Ensemble: Imani Harrison
Ensemble: Mika Hiroi
Ensemble: Ja’Myri Jones
Ensemble: Tru Jones
Ensemble: Phylicia Jones-Watkins
Ensemble: Rory Latham
Ensemble: Naomi Lee
Ensemble: Anna Sims
Ensemble: Daija Speight
Ensemble: Joshua Taylor
Ensemble: Justice Yates
Ensemble: Claire Zhong
Ensemble: Jack C. Purdue
 

RANDY KLEIN
(a note from the composer)

‘I first met Margaret Walker in 1995. I was asked to compose the score for a PBS/BBC documentary/film titled, Richard Wright, Black Boy, directed by Eyes On The Prize producer, Madison Davis Lacy. The production for the documentary took place at the public broadcasting station in Jackson, Mississippi, formerly called Mississippi ETV. This documentary contained an interview of Margaret Walker speaking about Richard Wright. It wasn’t until some years later, in 2000, on a subway ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan, that I met Margaret Walker again. This time she spoke from a placard above and across from where I was sitting. Printed on the placard was her poem Lineage. As the subway train rumbled on, I was lost in the sincerity of her words, ‘My grandmothers were strong. Why am I not as they?’ I scribbled the poem down on a piece of paper and composed music to it that evening. This was the beginning of For My People – the Margaret Walker Song Cycle. For twenty-five-plus years, my music has slowly married to her words, and today they emerge as a new folk opera, Jubilee. Margaret Walker’s heartfelt truths have touched and inspired me deeply.

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