(Photo credit: Mark Gulezian)

Interlochen Center for the Arts will present the world premiere of Dr. Bill Banfield’s opera “Edmonia,” based on the life and artistry of 19th-century African American and indigenous (Ojibwe) sculptor Edmonia Lewis.

The opera was originally commissioned in 2000 by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison, with collaboration from poet Yusef Komunyakaa.

Banfield’s opera dramatizes the astounding highs and lows of Lewis’s life and career, tracing her story from Oberlin College, where she was accused of attempted murder by poisoning, to her friendship with Frederick Douglass and her daring world travels as a young woman in the late 1800s. Lewis’s art boldly challenged the racial barriers and gender expectations of her time. The opera elevates Lewis from historical obscurity to a symbol of enduring resilience.

The production brings together a cast of Interlochen Arts Academy students from multiple disciplines, alongside guest artists including soprano Amber Merritt, in the title role and broadway actor Sydney James Harcourt. The performance fuses classical and operatic music with contemporary and jazz components. A modern set design complements the use of period costuming. Laura Osgood Brown and Justin Lee Miller attend to stage direction. Julius Williams conducts.

Interlochen Arts Academy’s 2024 production of “Edmonia” is the culmination of a three-year interdisciplinary exploration of the music and art of the African diaspora. This unique curriculum has encouraged students to study the history, culture, and artistry of music and art of the African diaspora, illuminating how related traditions, techniques, and trailblazers contribute to arts and culture.