After dispute, Tulsa Opera shelves commissioned piece for Race Massacre centennial concert

TULSA — Tulsa Opera will not present one of the original pieces it commissioned for its Tulsa Race Massacre centennial concert after a dispute with the composer over the wording of the aria.

Titled "Greenwood Overcomes," the May 1 concert at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center was designed to showcase works by living Black composers sung by leading Black performers as part of the citywide commemoration spearheaded by the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, the concert’s co-producer.

The Tulsa Race Massacre was one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents attacked, set aflame and devastated the Greenwood District, which was at that time one of the wealthiest Black communities in the United States, earning it the name "Black Wall Street." Although the deadly tragedy was covered up for decades and omitted from history books even in Oklahoma, a wide-ranging commemoration is planned in Tulsa for the centennial.

New works to mark Tulsa Race Massacre centennial

To "honor the resilience of Black Tulsans and Black America," the opera company commissioned four new pieces from contemporary Black composers.

But Brooklyn, New York-based composer, musician and educator Daniel Bernard Roumain posted on social media last week that Tulsa Opera had fired him after a dispute over the words to the aria he penned for the event, a recounting of the 1921 tragedy titled "They Still Want to Kill Us."

Link to tweet