MassOpera will showcase a special concert performance of composer Dan Shore’s “Freedom Ride” on Nov. 3, 2019. The concert, which will take place in Boston, is presented in collaboration with Chicago Opera Theater.

The opera, a COT commission, is set to star soprano Alicia Russell, mezzo Imani Francis, tenor Fred C. VanNess, baritone Ron Williams, Melinda Davis, and tenor Steven D. Myles. COT Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya will conduct the performance with Tazewell Thompson directing.

“’Freedom Ride’ was originally developed in New Orleans, and I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance, input, and generosity of all of the artists there who helped me find the right tone and language to tell this story: Dara Rahming, Valerie Anne Jones Francis, Chauncey Packer, Ivan Griffin, Tyrone Chambers, Wilfred Delphin, John Ware, and all of my students at Xavier University of Louisiana, who never ceased to inspire me and never hesitated to let me know—often with blunt honesty—when I was either straying from the right path or slowly starting to find a kernel of truth in my writing,” stated Shore in a press release.

“Freedom Ride” is set for its world premiere in Chicago in February 2020 in a fully-staged production with COT.