Historically, access for black talent has been strictly regulated in opera as an industry. Recent research has begun to examine critically the myriad victories of black talent at the highest levels and in the most public stories of diversification in opera (André 2018, Roos 2018). Until now these victories have been seen in isolation and always peripheral to the bulwark of white arts. But in recent months, the struggle for acceptance has been overtaken by an activist drive to share publically performers’ and industry members’ experiences of being black bodies in operatic spaces (@operaisracist). These narratives provide alternative perspectives on the often celebratory accounts of top-level artists’ introduction to and immersion in opera. Instead of allowing themselves to be co-opted into manageable narratives that continue to praise the black presence in opera as idiosyncratic, artists and practitioners are increasingly urging for a more honest and representative account of the quotidian experiences of black talent in opera.

Event Timing: 21 August, 11:00-12:00 noon EST

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