Composer's work dropped from Tulsa Opera 'Greenwood' concert over lyrics

James D. Watts Jr. Mar 24, 2021 Updated 6 hrs ago

One of the composers who was commissioned to create an original work for Tulsa Opera’s forthcoming “Greenwood Overcomes” concert has been dropped from the program due to a disagreement over the text used. ... Composer Daniel Bernard Roumain had been commissioned to write an aria to be performed by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves as part of the concert, scheduled to be presented May 1 at the Tulsa PAC.

The concert, which is being curated by Tulsa Opera Artistic Director Tobias Picker and Howard Watkins, a pianist and conductor with the Metropolitan Opera and vocal music instructor at the Juilliard School, is to feature works by 22 living Black composers, performed by eight singers, including Oklahoma native Leona Mitchell. Watkins will be the accompanist for the concert. ... Roumain was one of four composers commissioned to write pieces that would have their world premieres at the concert.

In a statement Roumain sent to the website OperaWire.com, he said: “Because the deadline was so short, I decided to create my own text. Because the program was to mark the horrific Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, I created a libretto that retold that story. I completed the work on time and then waited for a response.” ... The aria, titled “They Still Want to Kill Us,” concludes with the words “God bless America/God damn America,” which in his statement to Opera Wire Roumain said points out “the hypocrisy of our country committing countless atrocities, time and again, in the name of country and under God.”

A statement Tulsa Opera posted to its website Sunday read, “The piece that Mr. Roumain submitted, ‘They Still Want to Kill Us,’ contained lyrics that Ms. Graves felt uneasy singing. Ms. Graves expressed her concerns to Mr. Roumain, and he was asked if he would consider altering his lyrics. He declined.”

{snip}