I am an Israeli theatre and opera director based in Atlanta and working around the world. I am often asked how a crusty ex-medic in the Israeli Defense Force ends up in an art form that is so removed from conflict. The answer to this is complicated, so I usually reply by asking, “How much time do you have?” But joking aside, the answer is rooted in the concept of “possibilities.” The possibilities that our dreams offer us as individuals. The possibilities that multiculturalism offers a society.
Like most life-defining moments, I found myself inspired by possibilities in a most unexpected way. As a 21-year-old assistant walking into a rehearsal room in Tel Aviv where W.A. Mozart’s Opera “Don Giovanni” was being prepared for performance, I was struck by how dazzlingly multicultural it felt: An Italian opera written by an Austrian composer, sung by a French soprano, an American baritone, a Russian bass, conducted by a Spanish maestro, and directed by an Israeli. I was energized by the number of languages I heard in that room and the wealth of perspectives each artist brought along with their deep personal experience and rich cultural heritage. I was struck by the possibilities.
Just like that rehearsal room, our Atlanta community is a richly diverse mosaic of human experience and culture. Our neighborhoods are bursting with creative energy flowing from family heritage. The corporate community in Atlanta is saturated with brilliant minds that come from all over the world. Nowhere is this more obvious to me than in my children’s school: Atlanta International School, where dozens of languages are spoken, and families from all over the world come together to pursue their dreams. To me, this is the proverbial “American Dream” powerfully alive in Atlanta. That dream is the reason that Atlanta’s people are as much Black, Asian, Middle Eastern and Latino as white. Again possibilities.
As artistic director of The Atlanta Opera for ten years, I’ve held fast to the inspiration of that early rehearsal room to define the way we create productions at the opera, and the time has come to do even more. In addition to our performances, we’re pursuing possibilities through a new program we call the “96-Hour Opera Project.” The project was initially conceived as a new works competition to support and uplift historically underrepresented creatives in opera. However, it has evolved quickly to include not only opportunities for composers and librettists to be discovered, nurtured, and amplified but also a way to build a body of music to tell stories through opera about the rich history of Atlanta.
In the first year, finding and defining the Atlanta story themes connected us with powerhouse Atlanta organizations: The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, We Love Buford Highway and The Japan American Society. The second year connected us with The Atlanta History Center and Oakland Historical Cemetery. The stories and characters we uncovered convinced me even more that Atlanta’s greatness is a result of the exceptional people, both famous and forgotten, who have shaped our city.
In early June 2023, a packed house at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College cheered new 10-minute operas created for our competition. Five pairs of emerging BIPOC creatives, each team consisting of a writer and a composer, were selected from dozens of applicants to participate in our second annual event and create a work based on the life of a groundbreaking Black person from Georgia’s history. The Antinori Grand Prize granted the winning pair $10,000 and a commission to write a new opera. At the end of the night, an all-star panel of judges awarded the grand prize to Steele Roots by composer Dave Ragland and librettist Selda Sahin. Their work profiled Carrie Steele Logan, a 19th-century black woman whose legacy of serving abandoned orphans carries through to today with the orphanage she founded, even now serving children as the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home in Atlanta.
I can’t begin to explain the palpable excitement in the atmosphere during that evening at Morehouse. The raw creative energy, the joyful camaraderie, the place was bursting with possibility. A modest idea was growing into a vision of the future before our eyes. Much more than just a showcase to give emerging artists a short-term platform, the 96-Hour Opera Project will grow into a multi-day festival celebrating new works and become an Atlanta-based incubator for developing new voices.
At this year’s competition, I was especially glad to see more people attending the showcase than last year. Hundreds shared an evening of deep emotions, humor, and the excitement of creative possibility. Many were drawn to the event because of their interest in the Atlanta stories, but everyone left with an appreciation of new art and artists.
Atlanta has become the heart of this creative venture. Even as we encourage talented emerging creators, the 96-Hour Opera Project’s future competitions, commissions, and performances will tell the story of Atlanta through this creative lens to reflect the depth and character of the community we share.
The possibilities are amazing.
I am so moved by Tomer Svulun’s piece. I had no idea that this fabulous creative, community synthesizing, initiative was in the works. Thank you for including this spectacular, evocative article that invited us into a whole new world. As the daughter of a concert violinist, a former civil rights and education lawyer, and now a federal judge, I have longed for such a visionary cultural artistic initiative that brings the world to us and vice versa. Thank you — and thanks to Mr. Svulun — — for sharing the work of the opera and all the richly talented, diverse communities participating in this initiative.