RE | STORE
Edmond Dédé’s “Morgiane”
DC
New York City
February 5, 2025, 7:00pm
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall
College Park
February 7, 2025, 7:00pm
Dekelboum Concert Hall at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
New Orleans
January 23, 2025, 7:30pm
St. Louis Cathedral
About the Production
The most important opera never heard.
Did you know that the first complete opera by a Black American has been hidden in a single manuscript for over 130 years? Edmond Dédé, a fourth-generation free person of color born in 1827 New Orleans, had an incredibly successful career as a conductor and composer in Bordeaux, France, writing nearly 100 critically and popularly acclaimed works for the French stage. His magnum opus, however—a four act French grand opera on themes from Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves—had yet to receive a premiere at the time of his death, and languished, unrecognized, in private collections and libraries for over a century.
Opera Lafayette, with Artistic Director Designate Patrick Quigley, in partnership with New Orleans’ Givonna Joseph, Founder of OperaCréole, has painstakingly transcribed this monumental work and will present the long overdue world premiere of Dédé’s masterpiece, 138 years after its composition.
Language: French with English Supertitles
Running Time: 3 hours including intermission
Featured In
Browse worldwide media features & reviews on Dédé's Morgiane
Video
CBS's exclusive access to the making of Morgiane
CBS SATURDAY MORNING
CBS Saturday Morning explored the artistic collaboration between OperaCréole and Opera Lafayette to bring Edmond Dédé’s Morgiane to life. The video features Opera Lafayette's Artistic Director Designate, Patrick Quigley, and OperaCréole’s co-founders Givonna Joseph and Aria Mason among others.
Artists
Rediscovering New Orleans rich musical history
Kenneth Kellogg, bass*
Sultan Kourouschah
Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera
Nicole Cabell, soprano*
Amine (DC, NYC, MD)
Metropolitan Opera, Cardiff Singer of the World, Royal Opera House
Joshua Conyers, baritone
Haggi Hassan
Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, New York Philharmonic
Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone
Beher
Boston Early Music Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Carmel Bach Festival
OperaCréole Featured Artists and Chorus
Opera Lafayette Orchestra (DC, NYC, MD only)
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (New Orleans only)
* Opera Lafayette debut
About Producers & Partners
This project is a collaboration undertaken by the two foremost companies in the United States with respective expertise in historical Black and French opera:
OperaCréole (New Orleans, LA) is dedicated to researching and presenting lost or rarely performed works by composers of African descent. The company focuses on works by 19th-century New Orleanian free composers of color, and also on promoting Louisiana’s Creole language and culture. Led by founders Givonna Joseph and Aria Mason, OperaCréole musicians are professional artists, educators, and international soloists with roots in New Orleans, where the first opera season in what is now the United States premiered in 1796.
Opera Lafayette (Washington, DC, and New York, NY) is a leading interpreter of music from the 17th to the 19th centuries, performing little-known operatic gems and creating a legacy of these works through recordings. Opera Lafayette gives new life to centuries-old compositions, supported by scholarly research that highlights both the historical context of these works and their relevance to today’s world. Led by founder Ryan Brown, Opera Lafayette gave the world premiere of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Io in May of 2023, a previously uncompleted work which had remained unperformed since its writing in the 1750s. Opera Lafayette gives seasons in both Washington, DC, and New York, NY, and has been invited twice to perform at the Opéra Royale at Versailles, France, performing five sold-out shows.
Opera Lafayette is grateful for the help of our community partners, including the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Opera America, and Opera Ebony, in this world premiere presentation.
The world premiere performances of Morgiane are supported in part by generous gifts from Ford Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Capital Hill Community Foundation, The School of Music and Clarice Presents at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Maryland, and The Kenneth Gorelick Fund for Opera Lafayette premiere editions and recordings, supported by a generous initial gift from Cheryl Gorelick.
