SWANN

Program Note by Neal Goren, Founder and Artistic Director

When Tamar-kali and I brainstormed about the shape this commissioned piece would take, she proposed composing an aria based on William Dorsey Swann, an important historical figure sadly unknown to me at that time. Born into slavery in 1860, Swann came to be the first self-identified “queen of drag” in the US. He organized drag balls in Washington, DC in the latter part of the 19th century, and his was the first documented arrest for female impersonation. Swann was also the first American on record to pursue legal action to defend the right of LGBTQ people to gather. 

Tamar-kali and librettist Carl Hancock Rux present two worldviews to us simultaneously: one, a joyful party hosted by Swann, with his sentiments spoken by a rich baritone voice; and the other, the Voice of Judgement, the arresting officer, is hauntingly sung by a countertenor. Though the two world views are irreconcilable, here they coexist. Tamar-kali envisions this aria as the seed of an opera. I look forward to hearing it in its entirety. The music is both touching and compelling.

The video of the aria was conceived and directed by visionary stage director James Blaszko, who also devised the double narrative out of Rux’s beautiful libretto. As you will see, the cinematography evokes the historical period of its subject while referencing our own, allowing Swann to speak through the ages. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.