96-Hour Opera Festival Returns To The Atlanta Opera

The Atlanta Opera has announced its fourth annual 96-Hour Opera Festival (June 17–22). A composition competition that pairs composers and librettists to write ten-minute operas in five teams, the 96-Hour Opera Festival is designed specifically to broaden cultural perspectives in opera and encourage the participation of composers and librettists who self-identify as part of a group that has been underrepresented in the genre. The festival takes place at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College.

The weekend festival begins on Friday night with the world premiere of the 2023 winner, Steele Roots by Selda Sahin and Dave Ragland, centered on the life of historic Atlantan Carrie Steele Logan; a second performance will take place on Sunday afternoon (June 20, 22). On Saturday is the Competition Showcase, featuring five new opera scenes; a preview of the commissioned opera Water Memory from last year's winners, composer Kitty Brazelton and librettist Vaibu Mohan; and voting and awards presentations.

The Atlanta Opera awards the winning team, selected by a distinguished panel of judges, a $10,000 Antinori Foundation Grand Prize as part of a $25,000 Atlanta Opera commission for a new chamber opera to be produced and performed in an upcoming season. Selected from a field of more than 60 applicants, the 2025 composer/librettist teams are: Rebecca Gray and Rachel Gray; Gillian Rae Perry and Mo Holmes; Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei and Ashlee Haze; Dina Pruzhansky and Hai-Ting Chinn; and Iván Enrique Rodríguez and Laura Barati. The panel of judges includes multi-genre composer and writer Ricky Ian Gordon; Associate Director of the Laffont Competition at The Met and acclaimed singer Priti Gandhi; award-winning director, playwright, and teacher Tazewell Thompson: award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Andrea Pinkney; acclaimed opera singer Morris Robinson; Jennings Hertz Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre Tinashe Kajese-Bolden; and General and Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera Tomer Zvulun.
 
Zvulun comments: “Since its inception four years ago, the 96-Hour Opera Festival has grown to be one of the flagships of The Atlanta Opera. Over a relatively short period of time, this project has introduced us to bold, new creatives whose passion for storytelling has brought important new works to life. This program provides support infrastructure for these fresh voices to be heard. We are energized by the work, by the artists who are headed our way in the coming months and are looking forward to a great festival.”

World premiere of Steele Roots

Winners of the 2023 competition, composer Dave Ragland and librettist Selda Sahin have created a new chamber opera titled Steele Roots. The work is based on the life of Carrie Steele Logan (c.1829-1900), a formerly enslaved woman who dedicated her life to caring for needy children in Atlanta and is now buried in the historic Oakland Cemetery. She founded the oldest Black orphanage in the United States – an institution that is still serving children today. The story explores ideas of community, responsibility, and the enduring influence of one person's actions. Eminent director Tazewell Thompson mentored the winning team throughout the two-year process of bringing the opera to production. Conducted by Nicole Neely, Steele Roots features Atlanta audience favorite soprano Indra A. Thomas as Carrie Steele, joined by baritone Daniel Rich, TAO Studio Artist soprano Amanda Sheriff, tenor Martin Bakari, and mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell,. 

Workshop preview of Water Memory

The winners of the 2024 competition, composer Kitty Brazelton and librettist Vaibu Mohan, will present their work-in-progress during the Competition Showcase as the judges deliberate. Their one-act opera, Jala Smriti – Water Memory, looks to a future when artificial intelligence becomes a tangible asset to people whose lives are fracturing from memory loss and dementia.