Opera Ebony is an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

opera company Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a ...

that has performed in a wide variety of programs and venues, ranging from

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

to African-American Heritage concerts in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

to Gershwin in Moscow to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

in the Caribbean. Benjamin Matthews, Sister M. Elise Sisson, SBS (1897–1982), and Wayne Sanders founded Opera Ebony in 1973. The company has served as a professional platform for thousands of American artists, administrators and technical staff, helping them to refine their talent and perfect their

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

tic craft. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Opera Ebony has performed at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, Carnegie Hall, the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

, the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

, the Beacon Theatre,

Langston Hughes Theater Langston is a name of English origin. People with the name include: People with the given name * Langston Galloway (born 1991), American basketball player * Langston Hall (born 1991), American basketball player * Langston Hughes (1902–1967), ...

(Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture), and the Manhattan Center. Additionally, for ten years the company presented grand opera at Philadelphia's Academy of Music. Since 1988, Opera Ebony's repertoire has found Brazil, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Canada, Switzerland and Martinique. The company has also partnered with several major international orchestras, opera companies and music festivals, including the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution under the aus ...

, the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the ...

, the Estonia Philharmonic and the Savolinna Music Festival. In 1998, Opera Ebony was selected as the only American opera company to perform for the opening of the

Novaya Opera House Novy (masculine), Novaya (feminine), or Novoye (neuter) may refer to: ;People * Frederick George Novy (1864–1957), American pioneer bacteriologist * Jeremy Novy, American street artist * Lili Novy (1885–1958), Slovene poet * Tom Novy (born 19 ...

in Moscow, Russia. During the winter of 2000, members of Opera Ebony appeared in performance and engaging conversation on the PBS GREAT PERFORMANCES series - "Aïda's Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera." For Black History Month 2001, the company joined with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to present the premiere workshop-performance of ''Harriet Tubman'', a new opera/musical theater work by acclaimed American composer Leo Edwards. Notable world premieres and commissioned works include ''

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he becam ...

'' ( Dorothy Rudd Moore, 1985);

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Baumfree; November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist of New York Dutch heritage and a women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to f ...

( Valerie Capers, 1986);

The Outcast Outcast or Outcasts may refer to: *Outcast (person), a person with social stigma or untouchability Literature * ''Outcast'' (Ballas novel), 1991 book by Iraqi-Israeli author Shimon Ballas * ''Outcast'' (Sutcliff novel), 1955 children's novel by R ...

(

Noa Ain Noa or NOA may refer to: People *Noa (name) * Noa (Achinoam Nini), Israeli singer * Noa, one of the five daughters of Zelophehad (her name is spelled "Noah" in some Bible translations) Fictional * Noa (dog), a dog in ''Inubaka: Crazy for Do ...

, 1990); Oh Freedom ( Lena McLin and

Benjamin Matthews Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thi ...

, 1990); Journin' (

1991); and The Meetin' ( Pamela Baskin Watson, commissioned by Opera Ebony and the Jerome Foundation, 1998). Current projects include

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, ...

by Leo Edwards (commissioned by Opera Ebony and the Linda Gale Sampson Charitable Trust) and the remounting of The Meetin' for touring throughout North America. African-American opera stars that were trained by Opera Ebony or have performed with the company include sopranos Mavis Martin, Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle; baritone Lawrence Craig; and conductors Lawrence Craig, Leslie Dunner, Everett Lee and Tanya Leon. Opera Ebony is the longest surviving African-American opera company in American history.

References

{{authority control New York City opera companies Musical groups established in 1973 1973 establishments in New York City