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Anthony DavisprojectsAnthony Davis Ensemble Cynthia Aaronson-Davis - soprano vocal Mark Feldman - violin J.D. Parran and/or Marty Ehrlich- reeds Anthony Davis - piano and compositions Mark Dresser - double bass Gerry Hemingway - drums and marimba Wadada Leo Smith - Anthony Davis Wadada Leo Smith - trumpet and composition Anthony Davis - piano and compositions Anthony Davis - James Newton Anthony Davis - piano and compositions James Newton - flutes and compositions Anthony Davis - Jason Robinson Anthony Davis - piano and compositions Jason Robinson - tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax, alto flute and compositions Anthony Davis - Thulani Davis "Amistad" A Lyric Opera of Chicago's 1997 world-premiere. Amistad is an opera that was ten years in the making. Thulani and I first discussed the idea of making an opera on the Amistad Rebellion in 1986, after the premiere of our opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. We were drawn to the drama of the story, a successful uprising of captives on a slave ship, and the implications of the Amistad incident in an understanding of ourselves and the American experience. Through the Amistad, we could revisit the story of the Middle Passage, the contradictions implicit in the ethos of America, and also explore the emergence of the African-American as a cultural entity. Amistad is my most ambitious work to date and gave me the opportunity to expand upon what I learned from my previous operas as well as the chance to explore new musical areas. |
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