Long Beach Opera to Release Debut Recording THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
The recording features Cedric Berry, William Powell III, and Bernard Holcomb among its cast of performers.
Long Beach Opera will release the debut commercial recording of Anthony Davis and Richard Wesley's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five, to be released August 28, 2026 on Platoon.
Sung in English, The Central Park Five dramatizes the true story of the "Exonerated Five" - Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise - five Black and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted in the 1989 rape and assault of a woman jogger in Central Park. After years in prison, the young men were exonerated through DNA evidence and the confession by the actual perpetrator of the crime.
The opera traces their arrests, coerced confessions and unjust trials against a backdrop of racial prejudice, weaving an intimate, nuanced and deeply human portrait of justice and perseverance. Musically, Davis draws on jazz, contemporary classical, R&B, and hip-hop to underscore the drama and create a portrait of Black American music that stretches across time and genre.
The recording features performances by Cedric Berry (Yusef Salaam), William Powell III (Antron McCray), Bernard Holcomb (Kevin Richardson), Orson Van Gay II (Raymond Santana), Ashley Faatoalia (Korey Wise), Justin Ryan (The Masque), Lacey Jo Benter (District Attorney), Todd Strange (Donald Trump), Joelle Lamarre (Ensemble / 'Antron's Mother' / 'Kevin's Mother' / Others), Lindsay Patterson Abdou (Sharonne Salaam / Others), Corey Estelle (Ensemble), José Luis Maldonado (Ensemble / Raymond's Father / Matias Reyes), conducted by Anthony Parnther.
The Central Park Five was originally commissioned and premiered by LBO at Warner Grand Theatre in June of 2019. The full orchestration was commissioned by Detroit Opera, and LBO brought the opera to audiences again in a new production in 2022 at Jordan Auditorium, on the campus of Long Beach's Jordan High School. Following this second production, Long Beach Opera brought the cast and conductor Anthony Parnther to Silent Zoo Studios in Los Angeles to create the first studio recording of the piece, engineered by Greg Curtis.
The opera has received critically acclaimed productions across the U.S., including those by Portland Opera and Detroit Opera, and is published by Schott Music. The release highlights LBO's rich legacy of taking risks on bold, urgent new works and investing deeply in their commissions to create meaningful, lasting cultural impact.
