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Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press <\/p>\n
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Neema Bickersteth will star in Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining, a once-forgotten opera by Scott Joplin. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Treemonisha is a modern adaptation that retains the English opera\u2019s original setting and characters, but expands on its story and music.<\/p>\n
Treemonisha is a young Black woman who, as an infant, was hidden in a tree by her mother in order to escape enslavement. Raised by an adoptive family, she receives an education in exchange for her parents\u2019 labour and becomes a community leader and peacemaker.<\/p>\n
In the reimagined version, Treemonisha is given much more stage presence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the original, at the end the community chose her as their leader, but she didn\u2019t actually do very much for that to happen and she didn\u2019t say very much,\u201d says Neema Bickersteth, an Alberta-born soprano who was involved in the development of the revamped opera and will be singing the lead role for the third time this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Librettist) Leah-Simone Bowen wanted to give Treemonisha agency and that resonated with me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Bickersteth gave a stirring preview of two pieces \u2014 the first-act aria, Know Your Place, and the closing number, A Real Slow Drag \u2014 during Thursday\u2019s season announcement.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Soprano Neema Bickersteth performs an aria from Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining, a historic African-American opera that will open the Manitoba Opera season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Scott Joplin\u2019s Treemonisha was produced by Toronto\u2019s Volcano Theatre and made its world premi\u00e8re in that city in 2023. It\u2019s the result of a years-long cross-border collaboration between Black female creatives from Canada and the United States.<\/p>\n It features a new libretto co-written by playwrights Bowen and Cheryl L. Davis, and updated orchestration by Grammy-winning composer Jessie Montgomery and Grammy-nominated arranger Jannina Norpoth.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is probably one of the most important reimaginings of Scott Joplin\u2019s work. It takes the ideas further and asks: how do we make these themes relevant to a 21st-century audience?\u201d says conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson, founder of Philadelphia\u2019s Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra.<\/p>\n \u201cI think audiences can expect to be moved, but in unexpected ways.\u201d<\/p>\n The production includes a large cast of singers and dancers and an onstage ensemble featuring African instruments. It is directed by Weyni Mengesha of Soulpepper Theatre with choreography by Esie Mensah.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s full of one catchy tune after another; people are going to leave humming something from the show. The production looks spectacular, the costumes are just beautiful,\u201d says Manitoba Opera interim artistic director Larry Desrochers, who has wanted to bring the opera to local audiences since seeing its premi\u00e8re.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Interim artistic director Larry Desrochers announces the 2026-27 Manitoba Opera season at the Centennial Concert Hall Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n This is Desrochers\u2019 final season of programming. It feels like a fitting finale, he says.<\/p>\n Madama Butterfly was the first opera ever presented by the Manitoba Opera during its debut season in 1972 and was last mounted in 2017. Puccini\u2019s tragic love story follows a young Japanese geisha who marries, and is eventually betrayed by, an American naval officer.<\/p>\n Korean-born soprano Karah Son will sing the lead role of Cio-Cio-San, a.k.a. Madam Butterfly, next spring, with tenor Dominick Chenes making his local debut as Pinkerton.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about honouring those values of the company and not forgetting our traditions and where we come from, but finding ways to move the artform forward, include more diverse artists and tell more diverse stories,\u201d says Desrochers, who last summer announced his departure after 25 years as the organization\u2019s CEO and general director.<\/p>\n Michael Blais moved into the role of executive director last year and Manitoba Opera is set to announce a new artistic director in the coming months.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s 2025-26 season wraps up next month with The Marriage of Figaro on April, 18, 22 and 24.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/evawasney<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tDish<\/p>\n Every Second Friday<\/p>\n The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for Dish<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t Eva Wasney Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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