Nashville Opera has announced that it will be commissioning a new work entitled “One Vote Won”

The opera, which will be written by composer Dave Ragland and librettist Mary McCallum, will center on suffragist Frankie Pierce and Civil Rights activist Diane Nash.

“We are proud to collaborate with librettist Mary McCallum and composer Dave Ragland to create this original and important work, ‘One Vote Won,’” said Nashville Opera CEO and Artistic Director John Hoomes in a press release.  “This original opera brings together the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the disenfranchisement of modern-day voters to tell a story of personal liberty and the hard-earned right to make change by casting your vote. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and with this work we want to remember those who vigilantly fought so that every citizen can now exercise the special freedom our country grants us – the right to vote.”

McCallum is the founder of SistaStyles Productions and has written such works as “Singleville,” “Six Triple Eight,” and “Chasing Jeremy.”

Ragland is the Artistic Director of Inversion Vocal Ensemble, who received an Emmy Nomination for his work on “Nick Cave Feat. Nashville.”

The company will also be partnering with MTSU Center for Historic Preservation to create a study guide that meets Tennessee standards for U.S. history.