White Snake Projects Activist Opera Company Hosts Third Annual LET'S CELEBRATE!

Activist opera company White Snake Projects (WSP) will host the third installment of Let's Celebrate!, an annual holiday tradition presenting brand-new operas that celebrate the diversity of the Boston area and the myriad holidays celebrated here. Mirroring the city's demographics, Let's Celebrate! serves up a collection of three 20-minute operas telling stories about holidays and families from various cultures around the world. With post-show panel discussions about intersectionality during the holiday season, this year's concert embraces the traditions of Mexico's Black Christ at Chalma, Uzbekistan's Navruz, a national holiday celebrating the new year and new life, and Spain's La Tomatina, a tomato throwing festival.

Thirty Angels is a musical celebration of Navruz, the Uzbek and Persian New Year. Composed and written by Uzbekistan-native pianist Liliya Ugay (carrying Korean and Tatar ethnic heritage), Thirty Angels tells the fictional story of a young child in an Uzbek village who learns the meaning of the centuries-old tradition of preparing Sumalak, a celebratory food of germinated wheat, flour, cottonseed oil and water symbolizing community, friendship, and good luck. For generations of Uzbeks, Navruz has been a source of renewal, hope, and joy.

Dancing in Chalma celebrates one of the most important festivals of Mexico: The Black Christ. With music by world-renowned Mexican composer Felipe Perez Santiago, Dancing in Chalma transports listeners to the Mexican town of Chalma where people make their pilgrimages to the reputed miracle-worker shrine, the Black Christ of Chalma.

Requiem Tomatina celebrates the largest food fight in the world, the heart-stopping La Tomatina Festival held every year in a town near Valencia, Spain. Acclaimed director/choreographer/librettist John de los Santos and composer Tony Solitro join forces to share the wild, unusual, and very saucy spectacle of their homeland that brings together thousands in the streets squashing and throwing tomatoes at each other producing a sea of red.

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