MasterVoices to Perform NY Premiere Of BLIND INJUSTICE at Lincoln Center

On Monday, February 3 and Tuesday, February 4, at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Artistic Director Ted Sperling will lead the 120–member MasterVoices Chorus and 12 cast members in the New York premiere of the acclaimed opera, Blind Injustice, with music by Scott Davenport Richards and libretto by David Cote. Blind Injustice tells the true story of the Ohio Innocence Project's work to overturn the convictions of six men, women, and teens who were wrongly imprisoned for violent crimes they didn't commit. The opera is based on the book of the same name by Mark Godsey and the casework by the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Immediately following each performance, there will be a 30-minute moderated conversation with four exonerees portrayed in the opera: Nancy Smith, Laurese Glover, Clarence Elkins, and Rickey Jackson, as well as artists and experts working in the field of criminal justice reform. Conversations are free to ticket holders.

The inspiring 90-minute work in staged presentation showcases an operatic score infused with jazz, gospel, funk, hip-hop, and musical theater. The cast members are: “appealing suave” (Opera News) baritone Phillip Bullock; tenor Thomas Capobianco, who has roles in four Met Opera productions this season; tenor Joshua Dennis, praised for his “voluptuous, elegant tone” in Opera News; baritone Eric Shane Heatley, who created the role of exoneree Rickey Jackson at the Cincinnati Opera world premiere of Blind Injustice; “radiant” (New York Times) mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter; stage and screen veteran, baritone Marc Kudisch, a three-time Tomy Award nominee and Drama Desk Award winner; Canadian soprano Reilly Nelson (“a superb timbre and technique,” Opera News); rising soprano Victoria Okafor, who created the role of Alesha in Blind Injustice in the world premiere; baritone Joseph Parrish, whose “powerful run of soulful colors washed the hall in emotion” (Opera Wire) at a recent NYC gala; baritone Christian Pursell, who made his Met Opera debut this September as Sciarrone in Tosca; tenor Orson Van Gay II, who created the role of Raymond Santana in the world premiere of Anthony Davis's Central Park Five; and award-winning baritone Miles Wilson-Toliver, who created the role of exoneree Eugene Johnson in the world premiere of Blind Injustice.

The stage direction and dramaturgy are by Robin Guarino and musical direction is by Ted Sperling. The costume design is by Tracy Christensen and lighting design is by Jason Flamos.

Blind Injustice makes its New York premiere following a critically praised world premiere at Cincinnati Opera in 2019 (Heidi Waleson, Wall Street Journal: “Seamless, hard-hitting and affecting. A powerful critique of the criminal justice system.”) and a subsequent production at PEAK Performances at Montclair State University (MSU) with Ted Sperling conducting and members of the MasterVoices Chorus joining MSU choristers in February 2024. The live CD/Album recorded in Cincinnati was cited by Opera News as one of the 5 Best New Opera Recordings of 2022.

Based on the MSU performances, Maestro Sperling knew Blind Injustice was a good fit for MasterVoices's season. He says, “The use of a larger chorus in the New York premiere will make its already-important role even more poignant. At times in this work, the chorus makes you feel like the whole world is against the six exonerees; and at other times, like the whole world is crying to set them free, supporting the six. With our large, diverse chorus, this should be very powerful.”

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