CHICAGO, IL: Chicago Opera Theater (COT) announced their 2021 season today. Included in the lineup is QUAMINO’S MAP, a new full-length opera commissioned by COT, with a libretto by Deborah Brevoort and music by British/Belizean composer Errollyn Wallen. The world premiere opera will perform on April 23, 29 and May 1, 2022 in Studebaker Theater.
From the COT press release:
“Pretty confident you know what life was like for people of color in 18th-century London? This new commission by eclectic Belize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen and librettist Deborah Brevoort might challenge your assumptions. Quamino’s Map follows a formerly enslaved man who finds himself in London society after fighting for the Crown in the American Revolution.
Magnetic tenor Curtis Bannister stars as violinist Juba Freeman opposite two company debutants: soprano Flora Wall as Amelia Alumond, a member of the British Black gentry, and bass Damien Geter as Quamino Dolly, another recently freed man building a new life in London. Conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson and stage director Kimille Howard make COT debuts leading this world premiere.”
