RABINOWITZ HONORS COLLEGE and the
Hofstra Cultural Center present
FRED C. VANNESS JR., Tenor from
The Metropolitan Opera’s X: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X An avid concert performer, tenor Fred C. VanNess Jr. will perform two arias from Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels and two spirituals by Harry T. Burleigh, as he talks through his journey from a small town in Louisiana to fulfilling his dream of performing on the Met stage. A Q&A follows the performance. VanNess earned a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Longy School of Music of Bard College and a Master of Arts in Music Performance from Louisiana State University. He won the first place prize in the North Shore Star singing competition presented by the North Shore Music Theatre and the Beverly Rotary Club. He is also a recipient of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Career Grant. A native of Kinder, Louisiana, VanNess currently resides in the Boston area.
About the Opera
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X is Anthony Davis’ groundbreaking and influential opera, which premiered at New York City Opera in 1986. Robert O’Hara, theater luminary and Tony-nominated director of Slave Play, oversees a potent new staging that imagines Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space. An exceptional cast of breakout artists and young Met stars enliven the operatic retelling of the Civil Rights leader’s life.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2023 6:30 p.m.
The Helene Fortunoff Theater Monroe Lecture Center, California Avenue, South Campus This event is FREE and open to the public. RSVP at events.hofstra.edu.
Co-sponsored by the Hofstra University Department of History; Department of Music; Africana Studies Program; Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice; Center for Civic Engagement; NOAH Scholars Program; Office of Equity and Inclusion; and First Generation Pride.
