NEW ORLEANS – The Historic New Orleans Collection (HNOC), in collaboration with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) and OperaCréole, invites patrons to the world premiere of “Morgiane”, a groundbreaking opera by New Orleans native Edmond Dédé.
This performance marks the long-awaited world debut of the earliest known surviving full-length opera written by a Black American composer (1887).
When New Orleans’s OperaCréole cofounder Givonna Joseph learned of Dédé’s newly discovered manuscript, she made it her mission to bring his full opera to life on the stage. After more than a decade of work, her dream is now realized. The concert marks a pivotal moment in the repatriation of New Orleans composer Dédé’s life, music and legacy. The city’s musical and cultural powerhouses will finally unveil this previously unheard work in the composer’s hometown, in St. Louis Cathedral, where Dédé was baptized in January of 1828.
Presented by Musical Louisiana, the Edmond Dédé’s “Morgiane” concert will take place at the St. Louis Cathedral on Jan. 23 starting at 7:30 p.m.
HNOC will host a preconcert panel discussion with Joseph and Patrick Dupre Quigley (Opera Lafayette), Dédé biographer Sally McKee (University of California, Davis), and musicologist Candace Bailey (North Carolina Central University) moderated by HNOC family historian Jari C. Honora.
The pre-concert lecture will take place at 5 p.m. at the Historic New Orleans Collection’s Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St., New Orleans.
The concert is a collaboration between the Historic New Orleans Collection, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and OperaCréole in partnership with Opera Lafayette.
Admission is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served. RSVP at here for reminders and updates. Registration does not guarantee a seat.
For those unable to attend in person, the concert will be streamed live on LPOmusic.com and WLAE.com. Additionally, WWNO will broadcast the program on 89.9 FM and Classical 104.9 FM in New Orleans and KTLN 90.5 FM in Houma-Thibodaux.