Omar!

A couple years ago I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall with my choir, Musical Union, and the incredible talents of the Conservatory. This month, I had another never-before-done, never-to-be-done-again opportunity thanks to prowess of the Con - to perform Omar, an opera co-composed by Grammy award winning alum Rhiannon Giddons, at Finney Chapel and the Maltz Center in Cleveland. Coming into Oberlin, I would have never expected the fantastic places my love for singing would take me and the show-stopping talent I would be surrounded by. And I’m not even a Conservatory student! 

Omar follows the true story of Omar ibn Said, an Islamic African who was enslaved and brought to America. Coming from a wealthy family, Omar was well-educated and literate, and held a deep passion for his religion. While Omar lived the entire rest of his life enslaved, he had the opportunity to write his story in Arabic, the only biography of an enslaved person to be in this language. The opera follows his capture, journey through the Middle Passage, strife being sold to a cruel master, escape to a new plantation with a kinder master and community, and the writing of his biography.

Our performance was well anticipated, and tickets quickly sold out when they went on sale. I work at Kendal at Oberlin, an assisted living residence near campus, and residents talked non-stop about the performance and how excited they were. In fact, many residents are fellow members of Musical Union and held an even greater anticipation of getting to be on stage for the event. I also heard many students talk about it and how glad they were to have secured tickets. It truly united both campus and town in awaiting the once-in-a-lifetime performance. No pressure!

To put on such an important opera, we spent ample time preparing not just sonically, but mentally as well. One night we had a lecture by professors of Africana studies about the history of Islamic Africans, something I had never really known about. It was fascinating and enlightening to the context of the story we were portraying, and helped me better understand the inspirations behind the work and the characters we were representing. We also got to meet Rhiannon when doing our dress rehearsals, as she sang the character of Julie. I’ve always known Obies are talented, but hearing her work as a whole and her stunning voice just amplified my sense of the bright futures Oberlin grads have ahead of them.

Soon enough, the long-awaited night arrived in Finney Chapel. One of the best parts about being a member of the ensemble is you have the best seats in the house. We not only got to hear the music, but feel it. Seeing the whole story come together and feeling the emotion in the air was deeply affecting. Especially with the brilliant acting and resonating power of the soloists’ vocals, I truly felt pulled into the story and every anguish and affliction Omar experienced. The titular role of Omar was performed by Limmie Pulliam, an Obie grad who also had the lead role in The Ordering of Moses at Carnegie Hall. In fact, all of the soloists were grads except for one (who we consider an honorary Obie). They really brought the story to life and inspired us as the ensemble to pour our emotion in the songs.

A few days later on Sunday, we travelled up to Cleveland to the Maltz Center, an active Jewish temple also used as a performance space. The building is gorgeous and full of history; an 100-year-old building, the temple has been serving generations and generations of Jewish people. Not only was it a beautiful space, but the meaning of our performance was tantamount; we were performing a piece about an Islamic man, who met and lived with Christian Americans and enslaved people, in a Jewish temple. Our performance represented a union of cultures and beliefs in the hope of spreading love, acceptance, and understanding. It was a wonderful day and an even more wonderful performance. Afterwards, I attended a talk with Rhiannon and the other soloists to learn more about their inspirations and artistic decisions. It was inspiring to hear their thought processes and learn more about what the opera meant to them.

One of the sonic characteristics of Omar is that it is quite modern; the songs have popular melodies and are very catchy. In this way Omar’s story is brought to 2024, where it is still as prescient as ever. Many songs also have Islamic inspiration, honoring Omar’s history and religious traditions.  This opera is spreading not only his culture—an under-recognized and appreciated one—but also his story of resilience and survival. In the finale we sing “Tell your story Omar, or they will never know.” I had never heard of his story but feel like I should have been taught it over and over in school. With the power of music, Rhiannon has brought his story to the global stage; the importance of her work was even recognized with a Pulitzer Prize. It’s not just a slogan; Obies can truly change the world.