''Jubilee'' is an opera in three acts composed by

Ulysses Kay Ulysses Simpson Kay (January 7, 1917 in Tucson, Arizona – May 20, 1995 in Englewood, New Jersey) was an American composer. His music is mostly neoclassical in style. Life and career Kay, the nephew of the classic jazz musician King Oliver, st ...

to a libretto by Donald Dorr. The opera is based on the narrative in

Margaret Walker Margaret Walker (Margaret Abigail Walker Alexander by marriage; July 7, 1915 – November 30, 1998) was an American poet and writer. She was part of the African-American literary movement in Chicago, known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. H ...

's 1966 novel ''

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

'' which described her

biracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

grandmother's experiences as a slave and then as a free woman during the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

. It was first performed on 20 November 1976 in Jackson, Mississippi by Opera South who had commissioned the work for the

U.S. Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

. The premiere performance was conducted by

James DePreist James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at T ...

with

Hilda Harris Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. The ...

as Vyry, the opera's protagonist. ''Jubilee'' was revived by Opera South in 1977 and then disappeared after Margaret Walker threatened to sue if there were any further performances.Ansari, Emily Abrams (Winter 2013)
"'Vindication, Cleansing, Catharsis, Hope': Interracial Reconciliation and the Dilemmas of Multiculturalism in Kay and Dorr's ''Jubilee'' (1976)"
''American Music'', Vol. 31, No. 4 , pp. 379-419. Retrieved 28 February 2016 via

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

References

External links

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Libraries
Ulysses Kay: ''Jubilee''
(typewritten synopsis and production notes for the 1976 premiere) Operas by Ulysses Kay 1976 operas English-language operas Operas Operas based on novels Operas set in the United States {{English-opera-stub