Congressman Cohen Announces $10,000 Award for Opera Memphis |
Tuesday, 09 December 2008 | |
Washington, DC – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that Opera Memphis, Inc. received a grant in the amount of $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This funding will support the performances of “Scott Joplin and Treemonisha,” a new adaptation of Scott Joplin’s only opera.
Set in Texarkana, Arkansas after the Civil War, “Treemonisha” is the tale of a young African-American girl who rejects the superstitions ingrained in her community, in which education was forbidden by the masters. The new adaptation, “Scott Joplin and Treemonisha” will include additional scenes and musical elements in an effort to make “Treemonisha” more approachable to a wider audience. The new production directed by Ellen Schlaefer will take the audience on a journey of the struggles Joplin faced in trying to get his opera produced in the early 20th century when ragtime was giving way to jazz and an opera by a African-American man was not taken seriously. This production has already received an Enhancement Grant award from Arts Memphis and will have partnerships with Rhodes College and the Greater Memphis Music Teachers Association, and the NEA is matching it. These federal matching funds help support projects that involve the creation and presentation of artistically excellent work – both new and established. Grants from the NEA generate, on average, seven dollars from non-federal sources for each dollar awarded. - 30 -
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