(Credit: Cory Weaver)

The San Francisco Opera will present the Bay Area premiere of “Omar,” by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels.

Director Kaneza Schaal will direct the opera and John Kennedy will conduct the opera with a cast that includes tenor Jamez McCorkle, Taylor Raven, Daniel Okulitch, Brittany Renee, Norman Garrett, Laura Krumm, Rehanna Thelwell, Barry Banks, Edward Graves, Calvin Griffin, and Kenneth Overton.

“Omar” is inspired by the true story of the 19th-century Islamic scholar Omar ibn Said, who was taken from his home in West Africa in 1807, forcibly brought to America through the Middle Passage, and sold into slavery in South Carolina.

The opera will be performed six times between Nov. 5 and 21, 2023. The opera will be livestreamed on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be available to watch on demand for 48 hours beginning on Nov. 12.