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Nevertheless We Persist was originally conceived as a live celebration of the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, but has steadily transformed into a virtual concert program with an even larger purpose. Through the lens of classical music and opera, we wish to draw attention to intersectional issues in the fight for women’s equality and civil rights by examining the characterization, treatment, and disenfranchisement of women in both the real world and in the stories we tell on the operatic and concert stage.
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Watch Here!
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Underscored by the piano music of Clara Schumann, we learn about under-recognized and influential suffragists, such as Sojourner Truth, the Grimké Sisters, Ida B. Wells, and Anna Julia Cooper. In Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, women are viewed as disposable objects, and in Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, a woman’s only chance at freedom is to transform herself into a man. Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking duet depicts Sister Helen Prejean’s lifelong dedication to truth, justice, and healing, no matter the circumstances. Local activist and poet Ruth Leonard performs three original spoken word/film pieces which celebrate and affirm Black women’s and girls’ wonder and worth in a world that does not always recognize and value them. Finally, Lori Laitman’s witty and empowering song cycle for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, Are Women People?, explores the women’ suffrage movement through settings of Susan B. Anthony’s speeches, and text from the 19th Amendment.
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Women’s suffrage was an eighty-year struggle, which continues to this day. As citizens of our democracy, our vote is a powerful tool in exercising our ability to self-govern, to build civil coalitions, and to influence policy that directly affects the lives of our families, our communities, our nation, and the world. From women filling factories in World War II, to their significant role in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s, to the predominantly female healthcare workers fighting tirelessly on the front lines of COVID-19, women deserve to be treated as equal contributors to our society and have their voices and stories heard. In this critical moment in our history, we offer Nevertheless We Persist as a musical reflection on the women's suffrage movement, examining our past in order to seek a better future for all women.
Program
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Episode 1
“I. Andante” from 3 Romances, Op. 11 by Clara Schumann. Performed by pianist Emily Morin (3 minutes) "Dear Beautiful Black Girl," written and performed by Ruth Leonard (1 minute) “Questa o quella” from Rigoletto by Verdi. Performed by tenor Jeawook Lee and pianist Emily Morin (2 minutes) “Non Monsieur Mon Mari” from Les Mamelles de Tirésias by Poulenc. Performed by soprano Caroline Miller and pianist Emily Morin (6 minutes) 
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Episode 2
“II. Andante-Allegro passionato” from 3 Romances, Op. 11 by Clara Schumann. Performed by Pianist Emily Morin (6:15) "Dear Beautiful Young Black Girl," written and performed by Ruth Leonard (2 minutes) “Scene 7: Joseph’s Confession,” from Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie, with a Libretto by Terrence McNally. Performed by mezzo-soprano Mary Cloud and baritone Rahim Mandal (7:23) Episode 3
Selections from Are Women People by Lori Laitman. Text by Susan B. Anthony and The U.S. Constitution (about 7 minutes) 2. Without the Power to Vote— SATB 3. Take Pity— SATB 5. Relic— SATB 6. The Most Ignorant—SATB 8. The 19th Amendment—SATB "Dear Beautiful Black Woman," written and performed by Ruth Leonard (3 minutes) |
Featured on the Momentum Festival in Toledo Ohio!
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CELEBRATE THE TRANSFORMATIVE VIBRANCY OF THE ARTS FOR OUR CITY AND REGION WITH AN ARTS FESTIVAL.
Momentum is traditionally a three day festival of music and art in downtown Toledo, Ohio, centered on our revitalizing waterfront along the Maumee River. Momentum supports local artists and musicians and invites international creatives to perform and exhibit in Toledo. Since 2017, the Momentum festival has brought dynamic interactive and accessible programming to thousands of attendees. Momentum centers in Promenade Park and is supported through partnerships with Toledo's philanthropic community. In 2020 Momentum programming has shifted to include Virtual and Discoverable programming. Discoverable activities are self-guided and promote the exploration of the downtown and uptown areas. They include existing public art infrastructure along with new projects and activities hosted by The Arts Commission and Toledo Area Cultural Partners. |
Premiere
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August 12th--Episode 1
August 19th--Episode 2 August 26th--Episode 3 This concert was originally conceived for a live presentation at St. Michael's in the Hills Church in Toledo, OH. Due to COVID-19 we took this online for 3 episode digital experience in August of 2020. Thank you to Justin Scott Bays, St. Michaels in the Hills and Off the Beaten Path for helping bringing this program to fruition! |
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Podcast Guest Appearance
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Where would we be now without the insight and hope gained from the arts, especially generated by young people? We turn a new page with a virtual presentation of a perhaps overlooked celebration of justice: 100 years of Women’s Suffrage in the US. The 2019-20 Toledo Opera Resident Artists are ending their year in Toledo (and at St. Michael’s in the Hills choir) with a burst of creativity, celebration, and learning. Join us for a virtual treat in the series of videos that tell the story, “Nevertheless She Persisted.” The virtual concert will be a three part series. Tune in on August 12, 19, and 26th on the St. Michaels in the Hills FB page to hear "Nevertheless She Persisted".
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Artists
Mary Cloud is a mezzo-soprano from Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Cloud was a Resident Artist for Toledo Opera’s 2019-2020 season where she performed the role of the Lady in Waiting in Macbeth. She is also performed the role of Hansel in Toledo Opera on Wheels’ touring production of Hansel and Gretel vs. the Witch. Ms. Cloud performed the role of Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and the Metro Detroit Opera Workshop. She also sang the role of the Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Also at home in the world of musical theater, Mary performed the role of Ladybug in Pasek and Paul’s James and the Giant Peach at Tulane Summer Lyric Theater in New Orleans, LA. Ms. Cloud was recently a member of the New Orleans Opera Chorus and performed with the company’s Opera on Tap chapter.
Mary is Co-Creator and sound editor on Nevertheless We Persist.
Photo Credit: Rosetta Greek
Mary is Co-Creator and sound editor on Nevertheless We Persist.
Photo Credit: Rosetta Greek
Described by Fanfare Magazine as “one of the most talented and intriguing of living composers,” LORI LAITMAN has composed multiple operas and choral works, and hundreds of songs setting texts by classical and contemporary poets, including those who perished in the Holocaust. Her music is widely performed throughout the world and has generated substantial critical acclaim. The Journal of Singing wrote “It is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music.”
In May 2016, Opera Colorado presented the World Premiere of Laitman’s opera The Scarlet Letter, to a libretto by David Mason. Of the subsequent Naxos release, Gramophone Magazine wrote: “The first thing that leaps into one’s ears is the sheer beauty of the music…and her ability to meld words with lyrical, often soaring lines is on abundant display in her…impressive and fervent opera.” It was named a Critic’s Choice by Opera News and one of the top 5 CDs of 2018 by Fanfare Magazine. Laitman and Mason also collaborated on Vedem, a Holocaust-themed oratorio commissioned and premiered by Music of Remembrance, with a new production by Indianapolis Opera now scheduled for the Spring of 2021 (delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic).
The Three Feathers, Laitman’s children’s opera with librettist Dana Gioia, based on a Grimm’s fairy tale, was commissioned by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The abridged version toured schools in Florida, New York and Washington states, and L'arietta Singapore presented the international premiere in November 2019. Due to the pandemic, Opera Steamboat's full production has been postponed to August 2020. Laitman is currently finishing a chamber opera, Uncovered, based on Leah Lax's memoir, commissioned by a consortium of universities, scheduled to premiere at Utah State University in the spring of 2021.
Other prestigious commissions have come from the BBC and The Royal Philharmonic Society, Opera America, Opera Colorado, Seattle Opera, Grant Park Music Festival, Washington Master Chorale, Music of Remembrance, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Her works have been featured on Thomas Hampson’s Song of America radio series and website and in The Grove Dictionary of American Music.
She is a magna cum laude Yale graduate and received her MM from The Yale School of Music. In May 2018, Laitman was the recipient of The Yale School of Music’s Ian Mininberg Alumni Award for Distinguished Service. For more information, please visit www.artsongs.com.
In May 2016, Opera Colorado presented the World Premiere of Laitman’s opera The Scarlet Letter, to a libretto by David Mason. Of the subsequent Naxos release, Gramophone Magazine wrote: “The first thing that leaps into one’s ears is the sheer beauty of the music…and her ability to meld words with lyrical, often soaring lines is on abundant display in her…impressive and fervent opera.” It was named a Critic’s Choice by Opera News and one of the top 5 CDs of 2018 by Fanfare Magazine. Laitman and Mason also collaborated on Vedem, a Holocaust-themed oratorio commissioned and premiered by Music of Remembrance, with a new production by Indianapolis Opera now scheduled for the Spring of 2021 (delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic).
The Three Feathers, Laitman’s children’s opera with librettist Dana Gioia, based on a Grimm’s fairy tale, was commissioned by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The abridged version toured schools in Florida, New York and Washington states, and L'arietta Singapore presented the international premiere in November 2019. Due to the pandemic, Opera Steamboat's full production has been postponed to August 2020. Laitman is currently finishing a chamber opera, Uncovered, based on Leah Lax's memoir, commissioned by a consortium of universities, scheduled to premiere at Utah State University in the spring of 2021.
Other prestigious commissions have come from the BBC and The Royal Philharmonic Society, Opera America, Opera Colorado, Seattle Opera, Grant Park Music Festival, Washington Master Chorale, Music of Remembrance, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Her works have been featured on Thomas Hampson’s Song of America radio series and website and in The Grove Dictionary of American Music.
She is a magna cum laude Yale graduate and received her MM from The Yale School of Music. In May 2018, Laitman was the recipient of The Yale School of Music’s Ian Mininberg Alumni Award for Distinguished Service. For more information, please visit www.artsongs.com.
Jeawook Lee is a tenor and native South Korean and received a BM from Seoul National University and a Diploma and a Master’s degree from Southern Methodist University. His operatic roles while at SMU included Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro), The Mayor (Albert Herring), Count Belfiore (La finta giardiniera) and Sam Polk (Susannah). He sang the role of Tamino (The Magic Flute) at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Naples, Italy, Nemorino in the Dallas Opera’s outreach production of The Elixir of Love and Alfredo (La traviata) at Opera in the Ozarks. Mr. Lee was a finalist in 2012 and 2014 at the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition and 2014 at the McCammon Voice Competition and won fourth place at NATS. He just finished his Artist Diploma program at Texas Christian University where he performed the roles of Don José (La tragédie de Carmen), Fenton (Falstaff), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi).
Ruth Leonard is a local poet and activist. THE BLADE/ AMY E. VOIGT
Ruth Leonard is a local poet and activist. THE BLADE/ AMY E. VOIGT
American baritone Rahim Mandal, known for his vocal power and charismatic presence, is a winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions (Buffalo/Toronto District) and has recently completed a residency with Toledo Opera for the 2019-2020 season. More of Mr. Mandal’s professional engagements include Uscire (Rigoletto) with New Orleans Opera, Big Bad Wolf (Little Red Riding Hood) with New Orleans’ MetroPelican Opera Company’s outreach program, Wagner (Faust) with Natchez Music Festival, and Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas) with Teatro Lírico in Havana, Cuba. Mr. Mandal has also been a soloist in many concert works including Faure’s Requiem, Caldara’s Dies Irae, and more. Mr. Mandal holds two degrees in vocal performance, a Bachelor’s from Loyola University New Orleans and a Masters from Florida State University.
Photo Credit Caroline Miller
Photo Credit Caroline Miller
Caroline Miller is a “warm soprano [with] emotional bite,” praised as a compelling singer-actor with vocal flexibility and dramatic intensity, who is “especially adept at comedy.” Committed to the interpretation of new operatic works and collaboration with composers, Caroline has premiered the role of Verlena Sue in A Wake or A Wedding by Richard Pearson Thomas with Encompass New Opera (NYC) and the role of GH in The Passion According to GH by Lacy Rose, as part of Madou Mines Residency (NYC). Caroline was a Resident Artist with Toledo Opera, appearing as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel vs the Witch and the Plaintiff in Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury (canceled due to COVID). She also appeared recently as Lady-In-Waiting and First Witch in Monk Tarrots' new production of Verdi's Macbeth. In the 2020-2021 season, Caroline returns to Toledo Opera as Valencienne in Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow.
Caroline is Co-Founder & Artistic Director of The Pleiades Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to championing women's stories through opera, film and original music-theater projects. With The Pleiades Project, Caroline has expanded her artistic talents ouside of performance, embracing her interdisciplinary skills as a director, writer, programmer and producer. In fact, Caroline is the co-creater and editor of Nevertheless We Persist.
Caroline has a BA in English Literature and Music from Washington University in St. Louis and an MM in Vocal Performance & Literature from Eastman School of Music. She resides in Washington Heights with her bluegrass-playing husband and her un-impressed pit-bull Maya.
PC: Elizabeth van Os
Caroline is Co-Founder & Artistic Director of The Pleiades Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to championing women's stories through opera, film and original music-theater projects. With The Pleiades Project, Caroline has expanded her artistic talents ouside of performance, embracing her interdisciplinary skills as a director, writer, programmer and producer. In fact, Caroline is the co-creater and editor of Nevertheless We Persist.
Caroline has a BA in English Literature and Music from Washington University in St. Louis and an MM in Vocal Performance & Literature from Eastman School of Music. She resides in Washington Heights with her bluegrass-playing husband and her un-impressed pit-bull Maya.
PC: Elizabeth van Os
Pianist Emily Morin explores her interest in a wide range of repertoire through performances in the United States and abroad. Currently based in the Toledo, OH area, she collaborates frequently with vocalists, instrumentalists, and composers. Her most recent projects include instrumental chamber music recitals in Ohio and Massachusetts. She and Nicholas Kottman, baritone, were awarded first prize in the 2019 Dr. Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition at Bowling Green State University. During the past several summers, she has participated in the soundSCAPE Composition and Performance Exchange (Cesena, Italy), the Corfu Summer Piano Institute (Corfu, Greece), the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival (Maiori, Italy), and the Atlantic Music Festival (Waterville, Maine). Ms. Morin holds Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano from Bowling Green State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Providence College (Providence, RI).