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On CRB Classical in Concert with Boston Lyric Opera: a Pulitzer-prize-winning work by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, telling the stirring true story of Omar ibn Said, a Muslim man enslaved in America.

Boston Lyric Opera was one of six opera companies that co-commissioned this work, based on a short but powerful autobiography Omar ibn Said wrote in 1837. The opera tells how he maintained a deep connection to his Islamic faith throughout the horrors he endured. It also emphasizes how his relationships with his community sustained him, even providing him with precious moments of joy.

Jamez McCorkle, tenor (Omar)
Cierra Byrd, mezzo-soprano (Omar’s mother)
Daniel Okulitch, baritone (Johnson /Owen)
Brianna J. Robinson, soprano (Julie)
Neal Ferreira, tenor (Auctioneer/Taylor)
Emma Sorenson, mezzo-soprano (Eliza, Owen’s daughter)
Catherine Anne Daniel, mezzo-soprano (Katie Ellen/The Caller)
Nicholas Lagesse, baritone (Abdul, Omar’s Brother/Abe)
Fred C. VanNess Jr., tenor (Amadou/Renty)
Christon Carney, tenor (Suleiman/Townsperson 1)
Christopher Humbert Jr., bass-baritone (Olufemi)

Chorus and orchestra of Boston Lyric Opera
Michael Ellis Ingram, conductor

Published by Subito Music Corporation