SYNOPSIS OF THE OPERA OMAR

The opening scene is set in 1806 in the Futa Toro region of West Africa, where Omar Ibn Said and his family live peacefully until they are attacked by raiders. His mother, Fatima, a spiritual matriarch for the village, is killed and Omar is taken by enslavers. He endures the atrocities of the Middle Passage and arrives at the Charleston slave market, where he is auctioned after meeting Julie, an enslaved woman planning her escape. She tries to help Omar, who is unable to understand her English, and she safeguards his cap when the auctioneer throws it into the crowd — it reminds her of her long-lost father. Omar works in the fields of an abusive enslaver named Johnson but is eventually urged to escape by the spirit of his mother.

Omar has been captured as a runaway slave and is jailed in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He writes Qur’anic verses on the walls of his cell and is eventually bought by plantation owner Owen (real-life brother of the governor of North Carolina), who wants to convert Omar to Christianity to prove the superiority of his own faith. Omar begins laboring on Owen’s plantation and is welcomed by the other enslaved workers, including Julie, who returns his cap to him. In Owen’s study, Omar pretends to write a verse from the Bible while actually writing “I want to go home.” He later reads his new Bible and reinterprets Psalm 23 from the point of view of an enslaved Muslim. Julie encourages Omar to write a book about what he has experienced. He reminds those who have been taken to America, where they are forming new communities, not to forget their faith. Omar is joined by the company to praise Allah’s omnipresence.

Omar’s Journey is a concert work adapted from the full-evening opera Omar with libretto by Rhiannon Giddens and music by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels. Omar was originally co-produced by Spoleto Festival USA and Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and co-commissioned by Los Angeles Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Carolina Performing Arts, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Detroit Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera. The true story of Omar Ibn Said is based upon an English translation of the Arabic writings of Omar Ibn Said as published in From a Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar Ibn Said translated with an introduction by Ala Alryyes. Reprinted by permission of the University of Wisconsin Press. © 2011 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved. Omar’s Journey is presented with the kind cooperation of Subito Music Corp., publisher.

Omar Wins the 2023 Pulitzer Prize

In May 2023, it was announced that Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels were awarded this year’s Pulitzer Prize in Music for Omar. The selection committee described Omar as “an innovative and compelling opera about enslaved people brought to North America from Muslim countries” and “a musical work that respectfully represents African as well as African American traditions, expanding the language of the operatic form while conveying the humanity of those condemned to bondage.”

This concert is made possible with the generous support of Mechas and Greg Grinnell

The concert appearance of Seckou Keita is made possible by the generous support of Claire and David Oxtoby

There is no intermission during the concert

Sunday, June 11, 2023 | 8:00am

Chaparral Auditorium

Morning Meditation

Seckou Keita kora

Centuries ago, when the djinns (the spirits of the African bush) gave the first-ever kora to the griot Jali Mady “Wuleng” (Jali Mady “The Red”), it had 22 strings. Then, when Jali Mady died, his fellow griots took one string away in his memory. But back in its birthplace in southern Senegal and Guinea Bissau, the 22-stringed kora survives, with the extra string giving the instrument special advantages in terms of tonal reach and groove. Each string on the kora has its own unique name in spoken Mandinka.

The kora is an instrument with three souls. The first soul is that of the tree and the fruit which makes up the neck and the calabash. The second soul is that of the animal — the skin of the antelope or cow that covers the calabash. And the third soul is the living soul — the person who plays it. It’s impossible for someone listening not to be touched.

Seckou learnt his art at the feet of his grandfather, Jali Kemo Cissokho, in the family compound back home in Casamance, Senegal. Here he was taught about discipline, hard work, faith, and self-respect. During this morning meditation, Seckou invites you to contemplate these values and the griot tradition of music, poetry, tradition and heritage being passed on, orally, to future traditions. What does the future look like for those whose learning comes from this tradition?

—SECKOU KEITA

This concert is made possible by the generous support of Ida and Glenn Mercer

The concert appearance of Francesco Turrisi is made possible by the generous support of Michele Brustin

OJAI CHATS at Libbey Park Gazebo, 11:30am: Francesco Turrisi

There is no intermission during the concert

Sunday, June 11, 2023 | 10:00am

Libbey Bowl

Early Music

Francesco Turrisi curator and keyboards

Attacca Quartet: Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni violins Nathan Schram viola Andrew Yee cello

Rhiannon Giddens vocals | Kayhan Kalhor kamancheh | Karen Ouzounian cello | Wu Man pipa

Joshua Stauffer theorbo

On this program, you might hear Monteverdi on the Persian kamancheh, Luca Marenzio’s madrigals performed by a modern string quartet, Dowland sung as a jazz ballad, or a Baroque theorbo playing folk-inspired original music.

This concert challenges the idea of late Renaissance and early Baroque music and reinterprets it as a universal language that can connect the 17th century to today through an imagined historical and geographical journey.

—FRANCESCO TURRISI