In its 2025-2026 season, IN Series will proudly present the World Premiere of a new "blues opera" called DELTA KING'S BLUES. This multi-year commissioning project is the brainchild of librettist Jarrod Lee, and will feature a score by Damien Geter, one of America's most sought after opera composers today. This, the first full commission of an opera by IN Series, tells the (mostly) true story of legendary blues artist Robert Johnson, who is said to have sold his soul to the devil to learn the blues. This new truly American Faust, will have its first public musical reading on January 26th, 2025, with a cast of rising operatic stars, led by IN Series Head of Music Emily Baltzer, and with composer Damien Geter present.

Delta King's Blues: A Musical Reading

Martin Luther King Library Auditorium

This piece became a thundering work of American history when governments and unions alike tried to ban its legendary first performance. Artists defied those orders to bring this searing work that celebrates the labor movement to life from the seats of a packed theater while the work’s composer and librettist Marc Blitzstein sat alone at the piano onstage. Originally directed by Orson Welles and dedicated to Kurt Weill, this imaginative new version honors the story of this rarely heard classic’s origin with new energy, humor, melody, and a thirst for justice. The production features a cast of the area’s best young vocalists, led by the newly named Artistic Director of DC’s own Theater Alliance, Shanara Gabrielle, and IN Series Head of Music Emily Baltzer (“The Promised End”).

Emily Baltzer

Events

Past events

Jan 26, 2025

Delta King's Blues: A Musical Reading · IN Series

5 - 20 Oct, 2024

The Cradle Will Rock · IN Series

About

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