African American Opera Colors Galapagos June 12

Two Brooklyn opera companies, AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS (AOP) and OPERA ON TAP (OOT), will present Opera Grows in Brooklyn: Opera of Color, featuring a collection of contemporary opera and song from African Americans, in the next installment of Opera Grows in Brooklyn. The evening will feature Give and Take, a chamber work by jazz icon David N. Baker; songs from soprano Adrienne Danrich's new live-documentary An Evening in the Harlem Renaissance, including the New York premiere of five songs by Drew Hemenger with poems by Langston Hughes; and excerpts from Nkeiru Okoye's folk opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom. The show will be held on Sunday, June 12th at 7 pm at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood. Tickets are $15 in advance at www.galapagosartspace.com and $20 at the door.

Opera Grows in Brooklyn is an ongoing collaboration between American Opera Projects, "known for bringing cutting-edge vocal production to the masses," (New York), Opera on Tap, "...raucous and sublime...un-elitist, imperfect, and fun..." (NY Sun) and Galapagos Art Space, that presents 90 minutes of music from contemporary opera composers in a hip, cabaret-style atmosphere. Audiences have a chance to meet the creator and artists after the performance.

Composer Nkeiru Okoye presents excerpts from her two-act folk opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom. Harriet Tubman tells the story of the legendary Underground Railroad conductor as she grows from a girl born in slavery into the woman who would lead more than 70 people to freedom. Based on recent Tubman biographies, the story encompasses the universal themes of sisterhood, courage, sacrifice and family bonds. Harriet Tubman showcases Okoye's penchant for infusing popular and non-Western influences in a 'classical' framework. Starring soprano Jasmine Muhammad (NAACP Gold Medal Winner in Classical Voice), with music direction by Mila Henry.

Soprano Adrienne Danrich (San Francisco Opera) performs songs from her new live-documentary An Evening in the Harlem Renaissance, a musical celebration of one of the most exciting times for African American writers, composers, artists and performers. Danrich highlights settings of poet Langston Hughes in works by Margaret Bonds, John Musto, and Ricky Ian Gordon, as well as the New York premiere of five new settings of Hughes's poems composed by Drew Hemenger, and commissioned by Danrich and The Lively Arts Concert Series at Indiana University Pennsylvania. Also featuring Bass-Baritone Isaac Grier. Piano by Mila Henry.

Give and Take is a 1975 chamber work for soprano and ensemble by jazz icon and Renaissance man, Dr. David N. Baker . His compositions total more than 2,000 in number, including jazz and symphonic works, chamber music, and ballet and film scores. A virtuoso performer on multiple instruments, Mr. Baker has taught and performed throughout the world. He has been nominated for both a Grammy and a Pulitzer Prize and was recently honored by the Kennedy Center with their Living Jazz Legend Award. Give and Take will be performed by soprano Malesha Jessie (Los Angeles Opera, Boston Pops), and uses poetry by Terence Diggory.

ABOUT OPERA GROWS IN BROOKLYN
"You never really know if you'll be there for the premiere of the next great masterwork by the next great composer" the opera blog Parterrebox declared in 2010. In 2011, audiences can look forward to evenings focusing on opera and songs based on living Brooklyn authors (Sep. 18), and Rock and Roll vs. Opera (Dec. 11). Each performance begins at 7pm on a Sunday at Galapagos Art Space in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn.

For over 20 years, American Opera Projects (AOP) has been creating, developing and presenting exclusively new American opera and music Theatre Projects that have appeared at the Lincoln Center Festival, Skirball Center at NYU, the Guggenheim Museum, Symphony Space, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and many other national and international venues. AOP, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, has presented over 15 world premiere operas including Lee Hoiby's This is the Rill Speaking (2008), Stefan Weisman's Darkling (2006), and Paula Kimper's Patience & Sarah (1998). Recent productions of AOP-developed projects include Séance on a Wet Afternoon at New York City Opera (2011) and the world premiere of Before Night Falls at Fort Worth Opera (2010). Upcoming: World Premiere of Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness at The Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio in 2011. www.operaprojects.org

Opera on Tap's mission is to bring opera to new audiences by performing in bars, rock concert halls, and other alternative spaces. Born in the backroom of a Brooklyn divebar in 2005, Opera on Tap has gained national press recognition, several performance residencies across the city, and regional Chapters in New Orleans, Chicago, Ann Arbor, MI, and most recently Atlanta. In addition to Opera Grows in Brooklyn, OOT hosts a new music concert series called New Brew at Barbes in Brooklyn the first Friday of everyother month and annually co-produces the critcially acclaimed 21c Liederaband in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects and VisionIntoArt. 21c Liederabend was named best of 2009 in TimeOut NY in opera and classical by music editor Steve Smith. www.operaontap.com

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