In spring 2021 CRE2, in partnership with Washington University’s Department of Music and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, began a multi-year exploration of race and opera through scholarly conversations; exchanges between composers, performers, researchers, and arts administrators; and performances by some of the world’s preeminent contemporary musicians. We aim to gain unique insights into the ways in which race and ethnicity have shaped the history of opera and are animating its future.
2025-2026
To commemorate the five-year anniversary of Belonging in Opera, CRE2, OTSL, and WashU’s Department of Music will host a special slate of activities in Spring 2026 surrounding a performance of the opera The Tongue and The Lash. The opera imagines a private conversation between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley, Jr., following the historic 1965 Cambridge Union debate over the motion “Is the American Dream at the Expense of the American Negro?”
Though their debate took place over sixty years ago, its themes remain relevant today.
Please see the full list of programs below.
2024-2025
Belonging in Opera | Jan 9 – March 23, 2025
2023-2024
Meet the Makers, An Insider’s Look at OTSL’s New Works Collective | March 5, 2024
2022-2023
Belonging in Opera | Jan 27 – March 11 2023
2021-2022
Hosted by Todd Decker, learn more about this incredible musician and one of today’s most dynamic sopranos in an informal conversation setting:
2020-2021
Belonging in Opera: Learning from Our Past, Engaging with Our Future
A virtual event open to the public that explored the history of Black composers and the current and future landscape of Black creativity in opera and adjacent spaces.