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The Little Opera Company of Winnipeg continues its 30th anniversary season this weekend with a musical salute to one of the 20th century’s greatest leaders and visionaries, as well as to its trailblazing operatic stars.
A Tribute: Unsung Operatic Black Divas and MLK will showcase the stories and legacies of Black opera singers who broke through significant cultural barriers as well as the music that made their careers. Those stories will be shared by sopranos Erin Cheeseborough and Jonelle Sills.
Both women can recall exactly the moment that they were introduced to Black operatic stars. “The first person who I was introduced to was Jessye Norman,” shared Cheeseborough on Morning Light. “I didn’t start getting into opera or even taking voice lessons until I was fifteen, so when I heard her voice for the first time, that was just... it was incredible for me.”
Jessye Norman was also one of the first Black stars that Sills was introduced to. She recalls being in a community choir when an elderly Black man told her to go and look up her performances. “That was like opening the first door,” says Sills, who adds that it was the catalyst to look up Black opera singers in Canada like Measha Brueggergosman.
Despite having these role models, Sills describes her experience in the opera world as “stumbling into cracked doors”, illustrating the difficulty that still exists for representation on the operatic stages. “A lot of young people of colour... aren’t introduced to it much,” adds Cheeseborough, citing her own experience in her home city of Tallahassee, Florida. At the same time, Cheeseborough says that the opera’s staying power adds a lot to preserving the experiences and stories of the Black community. “It shows the journey we’ve been on and what we’ve had to fight for.”
“These women did not allow the challenges that they faced to stop them, and because of that, it helps future generations.”
“The Black community is not a monolith, but I feel it’s a monolith in the way that we love each other and the way that we express ourselves and in the way that we show up through all the turmoil,” Sills adds. “I think that opera is relatable to the Black community because of how vibrant it is.”
A Tribute: Unsung Operatic Black Divas and MLK will showcase that vibrancy while balancing education about trailblazing Black opera stars like Norman, Leontyne Price and Sissieretta Jones, to name a few. “It's new in a sense, because we are becoming these women,” says Sills. “We are these women, telling these stories through the songs that we’re singing and the speeches [and] monologues that we give.”
Resonating throughout all of this is MLK’s message of pushing forward for a better world in a nonviolent manner. “With this, we’re just able to show the beauty of the talents we have without any pushback,” says Cheeseborough.
“This will put a good light on his message, what he had to say, and also just shine a light on these incredible women and what they had to strive for.”
A Tribute: Unsung Operatic Black Divas and MLK takes the stage at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew’s River Heights United Church on both March 14 and 15. Tickets and more information can be found at the Little Opera Company’s website.
