Naomi André (NHC Fellow, 2022–23)
Project Title
Writing Opera, Singing Blackness in the United States
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Fellowship Work Summary, 2022–23
Naomi André drafted two chapters of her work in progress, Writing Opera, Singing Blackness in the United States. She published two short articles on the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s premiere of The Factotum by Will Liverman and DJ King Rico, in the stagebill for the Lyric Opera and for Opera News (February 2023). She revised and proofread “Interlocking Themes: American Music, Race, and Music Scholarship” for American Music vol. 40, no. 4 (Winter 2022) and wrote a short essay, “La Traviata’s Ways of Love,” in the Seattle Opera stagebill (for their performance in May 2023). She submitted the article, “Opera’s New Realism: Engaging Harm, Care, and Repair” to Opera Quarterly based on themes from her book project. She brought a group of scholars in the Black Opera Research Network to South Africa, participated in three podcasts, gave seven guest lectures, and worked with three opera companies (Seattle Opera, Opera Carolina, and North Carolina Opera) and the Fellows at the New World Symphony.