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.”
77TH OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL
| JUNE 8-11, 2023 | 71