I’ve tried so many years, for so many seasons, with so many people. Goodwin: You’ve been on a bit of a quest to produce this opera, right? You made other attempts in the past that didn’t pan out? And then later on when I got to college, I found out about “Treemonisha.” And I've always felt a connection to him from that day forward. I began to delve more into Joplin's works as a pianist and as a ragtime composer. When I first started playing for the neighbors, playing at my mother's meetings with the National Association of University Women, I definitely remember playing an excerpt of “The Entertainer” on an upright piano for one of their luncheons. Goodwin: How did you find your way to the work of Scott Joplin?ĭamien Sneed: Scott Joplin has always been one of my favorite composers. Goodwin spoke with Sneed about his adaptation and Joplin’s importance as a composer.ĭamien Sneed Composer Damien Sneed started from Scott Joplin's piano/vocal score and wrote new opening and closing acts for "Treemonisha." In this telling, Joplin’s Reconstruction-era story becomes not only a depiction of a prospering Black community near the border of Texas and Arkansas, but also the story of a composer triumphing artistically. Composer Damien Sneed and librettist Karen Chilton crafted new opening and closing acts, adding Joplin as a character and turning “Treemonisha” into an opera-within-an-opera. Louis presents a world premiere adaptation of “Treemonisha” through Sunday. A 1972 production brought the opera to a wider audience, and the piece won Joplin a posthumous Pulitzer Prize a few years later. He never quite finished another, “Treemonisha,” and it wasn’t fully staged during his lifetime. His work in the field of opera is lesser known. His heavily syncopated compositions, known as rags, paved the way for much American music to come. Scott Joplin earned the nickname king of ragtime in large part from musical innovations he made while living and working in St.
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