(Photo credit: Cory Weaver)

Portland Opera has announced the receipt of a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust.

The grant for $31,669 aims to support the company’s workshop of “The Factotum.” The opera, created by Will Liverman and DJ King Rico, sets the famed Rossini opera “The Barber of Seville” in a Black barbershop n Chicago. The work feaures opera, gospel, funk, rap, hip-hop, barbershop quartet, and R&B.

The creative team of the opera will be in residence with the company throughout the spring of 2024 to further development of the work. The company will present a full production in Spring 2025.

“We are so grateful for the Cultural Trust’s support of our work to develop new operas and tell more stories from our stages,” said Portland Opera General Director Sue Dixon in an official press statement issued by the company. “This exciting project celebrates the breadth and vitality of what opera can be, and this grant helps support the creative process of new works development.”