John Holiday and Tyshawn Sorey To Premiere SAVE THE BOYS

Opera Philadelphia Composer in Residence Tyshawn Sorey, the Newark-born multi-instrumentalist and composer celebrated for his incomparable virtuosity, will premiere a new work on the Opera Philadelphia Channel inspired by "Save the Boys," an 1887 poem by abolitionist, writer, and Black women's rights activist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911).

Save the Boys, which will be approximately 20 minutes in length, premieres on Friday, Feb. 12, and is the first of four digital commissions set to debut on the channel in 2021. Sorey's music will be written for and performed by renowned countertenor John Holiday, whose 2020 took a surprising turn after COVID-19 shut down many of the world's opera stages. Known to Philadelphia audiences for creating the role of John Blue in 2017's hit world premiere We Shall Not Be Moved, the 35-year-old artist has been impressing television audiences worldwide as a member of John Legend's team on NBC's "The Voice," lending his incredible range to songs like Ella Fitzgerald's "Misty," Eric Carmen's "All By Myself," and Coldplay's "Fix You." For Save the Boys, Holiday will be accompanied on piano by Grant Loehnig, Opera Philadelphia's head of music staff.

Sorey says Harper's text spoke to him in the wake of the increase of recent murders of Black men and women across the United States and serves as a testament to the ongoing plight of Black America.

"'Save the Boys' was as relevant during the Reconstruction Era as it is during the present time," Sorey says. "It reflects our daily life experiences as Black Americans and the day-to-day precarity in which we continue to live."

Sorey added that Save the Boys, among many more songs to come, is an extension of, and in some ways a departure from, Cycles of My Being, his 2018 song cycle exploring the realities of life as a Black man in America today, which is currently streaming on the Opera Philadelphia Channel.

Save the Boys is the first of four digital works commissioned for the Opera Philadelphia Channel in 2021. Additional commissions, composed by Courtney Bryan, Angélica Negrón, and Caroline Shaw, will premiere between February and April 2021. Each work will be available for seven-day rentals for $10 or unlimited on-demand viewing for $99 Season Pass holders through May 31, 2021. A four-work rental bundle will also be available for $25. Visit operaphila.tv for details.

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