Treemonisha performance courtesy of Trilogy, An Opera Company, 2009UTC Music Department Presents Treemonisha
The Chattanooga Choral Society in collaboration with the UTC Department
of Music and UTC Theatre present TREEMONISHA, an opera by famed ragtime
composer Scott Joplin, at Roland Hayes Concert Hall, in Chattanooga, TN. In celebration of the 125th anniversary of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the UTC Music Department in cooperation with the Chattanooga Choral
Society for the Preservation of African American Song and UTC Theatre
will present two evening performances of Scott Joplin’s opera
Treemonisha on Jan. 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on Jan. 29, at 3
p.m. Tickets are $20 general admission, $17 seniors, and $14 for
students. Tickets are on sale now at the UTC Box Office at 425-4269. Tickets available here.
Treemonisha, composed by famous ragtime composer Scott Joplin, is a
story of the triumph of education and enlightenment over superstition
and ignorance among the African American population of the Texarkana
region of Arkansas in the late 1800s. Perhaps even more interesting is
the exploration of the theme of whether men would follow a woman as a
political community leader during this era. Joplin sets these two themes
against a musical backdrop of the romantic opera of the early 20th
century.
The score is not ragtime, although it incorporates elements of ragtime
among its musical ideas. There are black folk songs and dances, and even
a kind of pre-blues music alongside spirituals and gospel elements in
the score. This performance will feature the orchestration and arrangement by T. J. Anderson.
The leading roles in this fully-staged costumed production will be
played by UTC students and alumni with the title role sung by graduate
student Varanda Bell. The production is being directed by UTC Theatre
Professor Steve Ray and Maestro Jooyong Ahn will conduct the UTC
Orchestra supplemented by members of the Chattanooga Symphony. The
Chattanooga Choral Society supplemented by UTC choral students will
provide the ensemble cast for the production.
Treemonisha is presented with support from the Tennessee Arts
Commission, and The Ruth S. Holmberg Chair in American Music. Producers
for the show are UTC Music Professor Roland Carter and UTC Theatre
Professor Gaye Jeffers.
Joplin’s opera, originally composed in 1910 and published in piano-vocal
score format in 1911 was never staged during his lifetime. Its sole
performance was a concert read through with Joplin at the piano in 1915
at the Lincoln Center in Harlem, paid for by Joplin. The opera was
forgotten until 1970 when the score was rediscovered and premiered on
January 27, 1972, in Atlanta as a joint performance by Morehouse College
and the Atlanta Symphony. UTC’s opening night will mark the 40th
anniversary of the world premiere.
