The Atlanta Opera’s Carl W. Knobloch, Jr,  General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun announces the 96-Hour Opera Festival on June 15-17, 2024, presented in collaboration with Morehouse College at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center. The Festival features the world premiere of the first commission launched from the 96-Hour Opera Project winners of the 2022 competition. Two years in development with the support of The Atlanta Opera, the premiere of Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier), by Marcus Norris and Adamma Ebo will be performed on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at 8:00 pm.

The 96-Hour Opera Project Showcase will be held on Monday, June 17 at 7:00 pm. Ten-minute operas by selected participant teams will be performed and compete for The Antinori Grand Prize of $10,000 and an Atlanta Opera commission. The 96-Hour Opera Project is designed to support underrecognized creatives and grow their stories and perspectives within the field of opera.“The 96-Hour Opera competition has blossomed into a full-blown festival this season,” says Zvulun. “In addition to hosting the prestigious competition to identify a winning talented team that will be commissioned for a brand-new opera, we are presenting the world premiere of “Forsyth County is Flooding” (winner of the 2022 competition) and the workshop of “Steele Roots” (winner of last year’s competition). This vital program is one of the highlights of our season and we are excited that it has grown into a festival in such a short time.”

About the World Premiere: Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier)

Selected as winner of the inaugural 96-Hour Opera Project in 2022, Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier) by Marcus Norris (music and lyrics) and Adamma Ebo (book and story) is the first of many new operas that will be launched from the annual competition. The work is fully staged under the direction of Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, award-winning director, actor, and producer who is Jenning Hertz Artistic Director at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Kajese-Bolden leads a creative team that includes conductor Chaowen Ting, choreographer Dell Howlett, lighting and projection designer Bradley Bergerson, scenic and props designer Kat Conley, and costume designer Jarrod Barnes.  The cast features Kevin Thompson (Church Jenkins), Minka Wiltz (Odella), Andrew Gilstrap (Mayor John Johns), Tiffany Uzoije (Butter), and Marnie Breckenridge (Bully).

“I was immediately attracted to this opera because of how accessible the art is!” says Kajese-Bolden. “The depth of heart, levity, and humor are all the more compelling because of Marcus’s capacity to encompass a diversity of influences in a creatively charged synthesis. It is a wide invitation to both the novice and the traditional opera enthusiast in that it authentically captures the feeling of improvised traditions coming from the African diaspora with structures and techniques developed by a storied European aesthetic. To know that work like this is not only being developed in Atlanta but produced by The Atlanta Opera, is something we can all be proud of!”

The one-act opera is a dark comedy that reflects on an environmental/spiritual retribution by unknown forces for the unsavory genesis of Lake Lanier in Forsyth County, Georgia. Once known as Oscarville, a thriving black community of homes, stores, and churches, the community was attacked and residents driven out by local white aggression, then, 30 years later the area was flooded to create a reservoir and recreational lake. Since the lake was formed, unexplained drownings and other happenings have plagued the area giving it a reputation for being haunted. In this opera, a private detective, a witch, and various county residents try to determine the cause and solution for a growing threat … random puddles that invade the county.

Speaking about the mysteries surrounding Lake Lanier in Georgia and the team’s inspiration for this work, composer Marcus Norris says, “Perhaps it’s time we revisit the theory that the Lake may really be haunted… All we know for certain is that there’s something happening here that we don’t quite understand – and it’s deadly. So, when the water starts popping up all over town in Forsyth County is Flooding, our characters must get to the bottom of this mystery. Their lives depend on it. Maybe ours do too.”

*Strong language warning.

Music and Lyrics Dr. Marcus Norris burst onto the scene with his score to the feature film Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown, written and directed by Adamma Ebo, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters by Focus Features. His cross-genre compositional mastery resulted in Beyoncé asking Norris to orchestrate several songs as part of her surprise 2023 Dubai return to live performance. Norris founded South Side Symphony in 2020, which he describes as “like a younger, more ratchet version of The Roots, plus lush live strings and horns.” In the short time since, with Norris composing and conducting, they’ve performed for thousands at iconic LA venues such as the Music Center and the Staples Center and recorded music for major albums, films, and TV shows. Norris recently wrote original songs and composed the score for the feature film Once Again (for the Very First Time) written and directed by Boaz Yakin (Remember the Titans, Now You See Me).

Book and Story Adamma Ebo is a writer and director, who along with her identical twin sister, producer Adanne Ebo, released the social satire Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown in 2022. The film is based on their experiences growing up in megachurches in Atlanta. A graduate of Spelman College, Ebo received a full fellowship to UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television and graduated with her MFA in Directing & Production. She has a TV development deal to co-create and co-write an adult animated dark comedy series together with her sister. The two have founded a production company called Ejime Productions to cultivate content focused on multiple perspectives.

About the Competition

Participants in the 96-Hour Opera Project competition have been selected from the largest pool of applicants the project has yet received. We welcome the composer and librettist teams:

Timothy Amukele and Jarrod Lee
George Tsz-Kwan Lam and David Davila
Evan Williams and Ashlee Haze
Kitty Brazelton and Vaibu Mohan
Lauren McCall and Mo Holmes

Teams arrive in Atlanta with their 10-minute operas already written and receive a cast of singers and a music director appropriate for their needs. For the next 96 hours, the teams and their casts rehearse and prepare for the judged showcase on Monday, June 17 at 7: 00 pm.

Industry leaders act as mentors and advise the process, and then serve as judges for the competition. This season’s mentor/judges are Composer in Residence at the Kennedy Center Carlos Simon; acclaimed librettist and NY Times bestselling and award-winning author Andrea Pinkney;  internationally acclaimed award-winning director of opera and theater, playwright, librettist, lecturer, teacher, and actor Tazewell Thompson; dramaturg and director of opera commissioning at The Metropolitan Opera Paul Cremo;  CEO of the Connector Foundation and formerly leader of the Atlanta Regional Commission, and singer with a lifelong passion for music Doug Hooker; internationally renowned stage director whose productions travel the world, the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr, General & Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera Tomer Zvulun.

About the 2023 Competition winners and Work in Progress: Steele Roots

Composer Dave Ragland and Librettist Selda Sahin were awarded the Antinori Prize in 2023 for their entry of Steele Roots. They are currently developing their work into a full-length opera and will offer their “work-in-progress” for a selected audience and the mentor/judges on Sunday, June 16. This review is not open to the public but provides a key opportunity for the creative team to see and hear their work with singers and piano.

WHAT:  The 96-Hour Opera Festival

SCHEDULE:

• Thursday, June 13 – Creative teams arrive with their ten-minute operas already written to begin the 96-hour rehearsal and coaching schedule for the competition.
•  Saturday, June 15 at 8:00pm – World premiere performance of Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier). PUBLIC EVENT
•  Sunday, June 16 – Workshop of the 2023 winner opera-in-progress
• Monday, June 17 at 7:00pm – 96-Hour Opera Project Competition showcase of the ten-minute opera, panel deliberation, and award ceremony. PUBLIC EVENT

WHERE: Ray Charles Performing Arts Centre at Morehouse College, 900 West End Ave, SW Atlanta 30310

TICKETS:
               $20 for Saturday, June 15  --  Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier)
               $10 for Monday, June 17  -- 96-Hour Opera Project Showcase
               $25 for a Festival Pass for both events-

               Online: The Atlanta Opera 96-Hour Opera Festival
               Phone: 404-881-8885 (weekdays 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
               Atlanta Opera Ticket office:  1575 Northside Dr. NW, Bldg 300, Suite 350, Atlanta 30318