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Nashville Symphony Presents the World Premiere
of an Epic Commission from Hannibal Lokumbe:
The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph,
A Fully Staged Operatic Production Chronicling the African American

Experience from Enslavement to the Present

The Project, Lokumbe’s Most Ambitious to Date, Draws Upon Personal
Family History and Ancestry to Illustrate the Legacy of Generations of
Black Americans Who Transcended Captivity, Oppression,
and Servitude to Become Visionaries and Leaders
Whose Monumental Achievements Have Changed the World
Starring Tenor Rodrick Dixon, Soprano Karen Slack, Vocalist Debo Ray,
and Bass Armand Hutton; An Ensemble of 36 Singers, Dancers, and Actors;
A 100+ Person Choir from Kentucky and Tennessee HBCUs; African Drummers
and Dancers; And a Jazz Quintet with Hannibal Lokumbe on Trumpet
April 13-16, 2023 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center

NASHVILLE, TN – March 13, 2023 – This April 13-16, the Nashville Symphony, Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, and a cast of 40 will give the world premiere performances of a large-scale, multi-sensory and multi-media production conceived, created, and composed by the visionary composer Hannibal Lokumbe. Lokumbe’s story both addresses the harsh realities of Black history in the Americas and celebrates the spirit and legacy of African Americans who endured and ultimately achieved greatness. Tenor Rodrick Dixon, soprano Karen Slack, jazz vocalist Debo Ray, and bass Armand Hutton will perform the principal roles in the opera, with a supporting ensemble cast of more than 30 singers, dancers, actors, and
instrumentalists.

Few artists have addressed the complexities of the African American legacy as truthfully, movingly, and powerfully as Lokumbe. In expansive works such as African Portraits, Can You Hear God Crying, and Crucifixion Resurrection, he has given voice to stories that are a foundational part of the American experience, and yet these stories are often left untold and therefore unknown.

The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph is Lokumbe’s magnum opus, told through the personal lens of his own ancestry. It is an epic production, and in addition to the Nashville Symphony, Lokumbe has marshaled the forces of ten vocal soloists; a 100+ member choir drawn from Kentucky and Tennessee Historically Black Colleges and Universities and members of the Nashville Symphony Chorus; Lokumbe’s Jazz quintet; African musicians and dancers; and more than 30 fully costumed actors. A massive set will be constructed on the stage of Laura Turner Hall, with screens displaying projected animation, and the Orchestra will perform from a modified pit constructed on the floor of the concert hall. Public spaces of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center will be programmed with multi-sensory, interactive elements to more deeply engage audiences in the story.

“Among the myriad questions I began to ask The Creator, one was most dominant: Who do you, The Creator of all, say we are,” asks Hannibal Lokumbe. “Those and the descendants of those taken from Africa, forced aboard ships in chains, and shipped to all parts of the world for the express purpose of enslavement. My soul exploded as this reply poured into it. ‘You are like Jonah. In the belly of a fish, he wrestled with both his faith and his fate. In the holds of a ship, you wrestled with yours as well. The light burning in him was the same light burning in you. In the darkness of the ship, in a space where your people fought to stay alive; where many perished in the suffering that it was and is and will forever be, a new mind was
formed. A mind from which would come a spiritual food that would feed the world.’ The creation of The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph is meant to be part of that food.”

“The Nashville Symphony has commissioned new works from and has given voice to dozens and dozens of American composers. The Jonah People stands out as one of the largest and most significant bodies of work our organization has ever commissioned and produced,” said Nashville Symphony CEO Alan Valentine. “Hannibal’s music and his story will cause every person in the audience to think about their own heritage and ancestry. To call it ‘powerful’ doesn’t even begin to describe how deeply profound this experience will be, and we are proud that Hannibal chose our orchestra to bring his
magnum opus into the world.”

Synopsis
The story unfolds in four “veils,” the word Lokumbe uses to delineate the larger sections, or acts, of The Jonah People. The metaphor is meant to suggest that as we experience the work, veils are lifted to illuminate our progressive understanding. “When a veil is lifted from our consciousness,” says Lokumbe, “we can never go back. I use veils because once we truly understand something, it’s forever.”

Veil One (“Ilé” — the Yoruba word for “home”) begins with the Griot, a tribal storyteller, who sets a peaceful scene of day- to-day life in the ancestral homeland, an African village. During a celebratory harvest ritual, a Portuguese slave trader, a Jesuit priest, and an African chief interrupt the proceedings, altering life forever.

Veil Two (“They Swallowed the Ocean for Me”) dramatizes the horror of the Middle Passage in the “womb” of the slave ship, from the perspectives of the captors and the enslaved. In a letter to his wife, the ship’s captain describes—without remorse—the brutality over which he presides, while the enslaved African Boukman recounts the capture of his village. The Marabout (a Muslim holy man) prophesies the future of The Jonah People.

Veil Three (“Searching” — “Na Lelakole”) begins with a slave auction at Port-au-Prince. We witness Boukman and his daughter Asase being sold as she begs the bidder, who brutally whips her, to not take her sons. Once in servitude, Asase discovers the power of music to help the enslaved workers endure their labor in the sugarcane fields. Eventually Asase tries to escape, telling her son Silas to cherish his true heritage as the descendant of his nation’s chief musicians. Asase is later captured and lynched and is ultimately discovered by her father, Boukman, who was guided by the ancestors to find her lifeless body. Veil Three ends with

Veil Four (“The New Being”) focuses on the triumph of The Jonah People, illustrating the spiritual power of music to liberate. The second scene takes place in Harlem’s iconic Minton’s Playhouse during the 1950s, celebrating the art form of jazz. Later, Lokumbe is visited by a Native American shaman woman, and the Creator reveals the identity of The Jonah People, imploring Lokumbe to continue the tradition of transforming “kindred souls” through the power of music. The opera culminates in the Old Plateau Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama, established by freed survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship of Africans documented that reached the United States. The final scene is a healing moment for the Tribe of Jonah as the two spirit children together touch the grave of Cudjoe “Kazoola” Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Clotilda.

Principal Cast and Ensemble
Lokumbe has cast four vocalists for the lead roles in The Jonah People. Tenor Rodrick Dixon will inhabit the roles of the Griot, Enslaved Elder, Father of Boukman, and The Seer. Soprano Karen Slack is cast as Fatiman, Susie, Mother of Boukman, and the Creator. Asase will be played by vocalist Debo Ray. And Boukman will be portrayed by bass Armand Hutton.

In the ensemble, Patrick Dailey is cast as Marabout. Jordan Marie Elizabeth Nixon is cast as one of two Child Spirits. Galen Fott is Monsieur Dauphin. Milton Jackson is the African Chief’s Aid, an Enslaved Man, and a Minton’s Waiter/Server. William Jenkins is the African Chief. David Lowe is the Ship Captain. Nicole Morris plays Yemama. Jordan Marie Elizabeth Nixon is the Female Spirit. A Jonah Elder and Grandfather are portrayed by Elliot Winston Robinson. Two French Men are played by Josh Kiev and Sawyer Latham, and Jack E. Chambers is a French Soldier. Christen Heilman, Jennifer Richmond, and Leslie Marberry are French Women and Civilians. Alex Scott is a Jesuit Priest and a French Man. Tamara Todres portrays Madame Dauphin. Andrew Kanies plays the roles of Portuguese Sailor, Auctioneer Assistant, and French Sailor. Joe Mobley is a Portuguese Sailor, French Man, and French Civilian. Geoffrey Davin Sullivan is a Slave Trader, Slave Auctioneer, and a French Soldier. David Gipson plays Silas/Kerkula. Nomalanga Eniafe, the choreographer for The Jonah People, also acts as a Jonah Ensemble Member and Shaman. Ensemble member Joel Diggs plays an Enslaved Man (Jumper) and Master of Ceremonies. Other Jonah Ensemble Members, many of whom are cast in multiple roles as Enslaved Women and Men and Minton’s Audience or Servers, are Brandon Corlew, Brandon Johnson, Cornell Kennedy, Erica Taylor, Kyrah Granberry, Mahoganye McFarland, Morgan Perry, Panya Nomalaysy, Preston Weaver, Semira Graham, Shabaz Chijoke Ujima, Taliyah Neal, and Titilayo Eniafe.

Onstage Musicians
In addition to the Nashville Symphony, which will perform from a modified orchestra pit formed on the floor of the concert hall, there are several musicians who have onstage roles as part of the production. Kirk Fletcher will play blues guitar, and others will play traditional African instruments: Dave Ragland will play the kora; Daniel Brevil will play African drums; and Baba Musa Amen will play the djun djun. Additionally, a quintet of jazz musicians who are frequent collaborators with Lokumbe will pay homage to their instrumental counterparts, who represent the idiom of bebop, in the scene taking place at Harlem’s iconic Minton’s Playhouse. The quintet consists of alto sax Jovan Quallo; drummer Brannen Temple; bass player David Pulphus; pianist Dayne Reliford; and Hannibal Lokumbe himself appears playing trumpet.

The Jonah People Choir
Dr. Lloyd Mallory, most recently the Director of Vocal & Choral Studies at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, has assembled and prepared a choir whose members hail from several Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other institutions, including the W. Crimm Singers (also known as the Wakanda Chorale), Lane College, Tennessee State University, and the Lloyd Mallory Singers, as well as the Nashville Symphony Chorus. Lokumbe dedicates the Jonah People Choir to the memory of Dr. Paul Kwami, the esteemed choral director at Fisk University, who helped plan the choir’s role in the production, but passed away in 2022 before it came to fruition.

Production
Hannibal Lokumbe assembled a group of stage designers and related production crew to realize his grand vision, and their work will transform the Laura Turner Concert Hall into an immersive, theatrical environment. A massive set resembling a slave ship will be constructed, with sails that will double as screens that will show projected animation and additional content. They will also construct a modified orchestra pit in front of the stage where the Nashville Symphony will perform.

Jon Royal, Assistant Stage Director to Lokumbe, is a Nashville director and teaching artist. Choreographer Nomalanga Eniafe, also from Nashville, performs and creates movements based on traditional African dance forms. Lighting Designer Kelly Landry is the Resident Assistant Lighting Director for Nashville Ballet. Nashville Symphony Audio Engineer Cameron Lambert created an immersive sound environment inside Laura Turner Hall for these performances. Parisian-born Costume Designer Christelle Matou’s work encompasses theater, concert, dance, and opera productions including The Magic Flute and Il Trovatore at Glimmerglass Opera as well as for film and television. New Orleans native Steven Prince is the Fine Artist for Stage Design and Props, and is a mixed media artist, master printmaker, lecturer, educator, and art evangelist. Projection Designer Miko Simmons is an international, award-winning multimedia artist and projection designer who has been innovating in the convergence of film/animation and theatrical production for more than two decades. More information about the design team and others may be found at thejonahpeople.com.

About Hannibal Lokumbe
Composer and trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe (né Marvin Peterson) has been celebrating and commemorating the African American experience through music and words for the last 50 years. His journey has taken him from Smithville, Texas, where he was first inspired by the spirituals and hymns of his grandparents, to the stages of Carnegie Hall and celebrated venues around the world. Lokumbe has composed more than 150 works, many of which pay tribute to civil rights leaders including Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Andrew Young. His works have also honored the lives and legacies of other important historical figures, including abolitionist John Brown, Anne Frank, and Kim Phuc Phan Thi. Other works have explored some of America’s most painful moments—among them the Atlanta child murders of 1979-81 and the 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina—responding to these tragedies with powerful expressions of hope, healing, and transcendence.

Beginning his professional career as a jazz musician in New York City in 1970, Lokumbe has toured and recorded with some of jazz’s most influential and accomplished artists, including Gil Evans, Pharoah Sanders, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Cecil Taylor, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Carla Bley, Carmen McRae, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. As a bandleader and composer in his own right, he has released 20 recordings for labels including Atlantic, Naxos, and Enja Records.

Bridging the worlds of jazz and classical music, Lokumbe’s work has been commissioned and performed by orchestras across the country. His oratorio African Portraits debuted at Carnegie Hall with conductor Paul Lustig Dunkel and the American Composers Orchestra in 1990. Since its debut, the work has been performed more than 200 times by orchestras across America and was recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim.

African Portraits catalyzed other orchestral commissions, including with the Philadelphia Orchestra (One Land, One River, One People, Healing Tones), the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (Can You Hear God Crying?), Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Dear Mrs. Parks), and theNew Jersey Symphony Orchestra (God, Mississippi and a Man Called Evers). He has also been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, Vocal Essence, Carole Haas Gravagno, and the Art Sanctuary of Philadelphia. Lokumbe is the founder and director of the Music Liberation Orchestra, a program that teaches music, genealogy, and writing to incarcerated men around the country in institutions such as the Bastrop County Jail in Bastrop, Texas; Orleans Parish prison in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he’s not traveling and performing, Lokumbe splits his time between his home in Bastrop, Texas, and his studio in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Lokumbe has developed a singular voice that builds on the distinctly American artistry of Duke Ellington, Leonard Bernstein, John Coltrane, Aaron Copland, and Miles Davis, among many others. Skillfully combining jazz, blues, gospel, opera, orchestral, and choral music, his music is driven in equal measure by melody, rhythm, improvisation, technical mastery and sheer exuberance—it is music with no boundaries, full of heart and soul.

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