Adolphus C. Hailstork (b. 1941)
is featured at AfriClassical.com
Paul Leroy Robeson (1898-1976)
Kevin Maynor
Posted date: June 19, 2013
By G.R. Mattox
By G.R. Mattox
Ten years ago, Kevin Maynor, the operatic singer with the deep, bass voice and his beloved city of Newark were both insulted by a man who said that the city was not a good enough place to locate a record store. This year, the state’s largest municipality and Maynor will celebrate the anniversary of a cultural institution that has ambitious plans for expansion.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Trilogy, An Opera Company will mount a production of Robeson, a new opera written by Adolphus Hailstork, with the libretto by Shaunelle Perry. The opera is based on the life of New Jersey native and Rutgers University graduate Paul Leroy Robeson (1898-1976); the scholar, athlete, singer and civil rights activist was revered for his immense talents, yet today has been all but erased from popular history because of his political beliefs.
“I’m so excited about it,” said Maynor, who goes on to describe the subject of this opera as “the most complete, comprehensive figure that has existed on the earth; who has affected more change than any other person I can think of in every true sense of the word… He would take his struggle, which was trying to persuade America to accept black people, and make it relative to the struggles of people all over the world… There’s no movie or television show that could really capture the beauty of Robeson’s music and the power of his life,” he continued, “so it makes it an incredibly difficult task for a composer, but Adolphus is up to it.”
Trilogy focuses on the works of black composers as well as works reflective of the black experience using artists across the world. Over the past 10 years, Trilogy has produced operas on such subjects as Darfur, the three black Newark mayors and the four little girls killed in the 1963 Birmingham bombing. They have also profiled such historical figures as Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Emmitt Till.
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These subjects are not only the basis of high-quality entertainment, but also learning experiences. “Oftentimes I will choose a subject and force everyone to do a little homework to study these individuals and find out their relevancy to their own existence,” Maynor said. “They get tied in.”
The schedule for Robeson includes preview performances August 3 at the Central Theater (Central High School) in Newark and at First Corinthians Baptist Church in Harlem on September 14. Excerpts from the opera will be performed at NJPAC on November 3, leading to the world premiere, again at NJPAC in March 2014. It can also be seen over the summer at Kip’s Castle in Verona, and performances are planned in Buffalo, NY and Norfolk, VA.
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