LA Opera's New Digital Short BROWN SOUNDS Premieres March 26

Beginning March 26, LA Opera, in collaboration with the African American Art Song Alliance, Aural Compass Projects, Black Opera Alliance, National Association of Negro Musicians and the Philadelphia Dance Company, presents the online premiere of Brown Sounds, a new Digital Short by French filmmaker Jérémy Adonis starring mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis.

Poetry, composition, song and dance come together in this work that celebrates the Black experience. Conceived by an all-Black creative team, the Digital Short was masterminded by executive producer and conceptual creator Bryce-Davis, whose LA Opera credits include recent productions of Eurydice and Roberto Devereux and the upcoming Il Trovatore. The music, created for her, is a ravishing setting by composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson of verses by Henry Dumas, one of the most significant poets of the civil rights era.

"Young Black children are often taught that their history begins with slavery," said Bryce-Davis. "Our purpose with this project is to portray a history that goes back to the beginning of time and stretches far into the untapped treasures of the future: a celebration of Black art, Black bodies, Black consciousness. I recited Dumas' poem as a grad student, and when the time came for me to give my recital later that semester, I realized the words were still singing in my being. I asked fellow Manhattan School of Music student Ayanna Witter-Johnson if she could set the words to music and she graciously said yes. For this reincarnation of the project, we brought together an all-star Black creative team representing the vast experiences of the African diaspora, and a coalition of arts organizations, led by LA Opera, to help spread this message to the world."

The film opens on Bryce-Davis and dancer Lateef Williams thriving in a lush paradise representing the Garden of Eden. The pair are suddenly uprooted and driven to the unknown: the original sin of slavery. In the end, they dig their roots into the soil and stretch their limbs to the sun, finding new identities, new truths and new power. Designed and styled by Allan Virgo, the video was filmed on location in Belgium at the Meise Botanical Gardens in Brussels and at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. The pianist is Jeanne-Minette Cilliers.

Led by Bryce-Davis, five organizations-the African American Art Song Alliance, Aural Compass Projects, Black Opera Alliance, National Association of Negro Musicians and the Philadelphia Dance Company-representing all forms of art, as does Brown Sounds, have joined together in partnership with LA Opera to share Brown Sounds with audiences nationwide. It will be streamed on LA Opera's Facebook and YouTube channel starting at 11:00 a.m. P.D.T. For viewing details and additional information, LAOpera.org/BrownSounds.

Part of the company's On Now platform of online programming, Digital Shorts are newly commissioned films that team gifted composers, performers and visual artists. Digital Shorts are offered free of charge to all viewers.

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