Organization

Spoleto Festival USA

Singer

Bass-baritone

Malcom MacKenzie

John Owen

Catherine Daniel

Katie Ellen

The Caller

Adam Klein

Master Taylor

Tenor

Jamez McCorkle

Omar Ibn Said

Laquita Mitchell

Julie Laquita

Master

Mezzo-soprano

Cheryse McLeod Lewis

Omar's Mother

Auctioneer

Soprano

Rebecca Jo Loeb

Little Daughter

Baritone

Michael Redding

Man to be Sold

Omar's Brother

Conductor

John Kennedy

Stage director

Kaneza Schaal

English

Omar

Charleston

United States

Sottile Theatre

Public

Approved

Singing Katie Ellen at the Spoleto Festival

Sons. Teachers. Farmers. Mothers. Of the millions of lives forever altered or lost by forced ocean crossings, how many of their stories are known? 

This world premiere opera from Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels narrates Omar Ibn Said’s 1831 autobiography, beginning long before the 37-year-old West African scholar was made to board a ship bound for Charleston, South Carolina—the site of his enslavement and sale. And though his memoir ends some 30 years before he was laid to rest, still enslaved, this record of his life and Muslim faith reveals a refusal to be defined or erased by his captors. It’s a seminal work of strength, resistance, and religious conviction—a work underscoring the indelible power of the written word.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast