Opera New Work Reading: Sunder
Opera New Work Reading: Sunder
Maryland Opera Studio
Nailah Nombeko, composer
Alicia Haymer, librettist
Amanda Consol, stage director
Jonathan King, music director
Co-produced with Annapolis Opera, the University of Maryland School of Music’s Maryland Opera Studio presents the rescheduled performance of last season's New Work Reading: Sunder. This performance will be sung in English.
Heartfelt chants ring out in a southern small town that’s had enough of the police criminalizing the poor. White protestors have occupied space downtown in the People’s Plaza, fighting for the freedom of homeless Black people who have been arrested for petty crimes, and given astronomical bail. Turmoil threatens to come between two close friends at the helm of the movement, as the protestors decide if they should remain peaceful, or amp up their efforts with force. In the midst is a Black police officer, who struggles to find his authenticity in a hotbed of justice, race and morality. What will become of a movement, once mighty, that loses its way because of a need for power?
Watch this behind-the-scenes preview film that was produced during the Spring 2021 semester.
About the Maryland Opera Studio:
Under the direction of Craig Kier, the Maryland Opera Studio is dedicated to the future of opera. Preparing the next generation of great singers and offering performances ranging from classic repertoire to provocative new works, it is building contemporary audiences for opera and advancing the art that sustains them.
