Omar
2023 Pulitzer Prize-winner, Omar is an opera with libretto and music by Rhiannon Giddens (in collaboration with Michael Abels), based on the autobiography of an enslaved muslim man, Omar Ibn Said, who lived in Charleston, SC in the 19th century. Commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA, Omar premiered at the 2022 festival and has since made its debut at LA Opera, University of Chapel Hill at North Carolina Southern Futures, and Boston Lyric Opera, and is slated for debut at San Francisco Opera and Lyric of Chicago.
“Only a musician like Giddens could have created “Omar,” for which she wrote the libretto and composed in recorded drafts — she sang and accompanied herself — that were then orchestrated by Abels, with an ear for subtle connections and propulsive drama. Their score, nimbly handled by the conductor John Kennedy and the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, is a melting pot inspired by bluegrass, hymns, spirituals and more, with nods to traditions from Africa and Islam. It’s an unforced ideal of American sound: expansive and ever-changing.”