InsightALT: SHE WHO DARED

On Tuesday, October 29 at 7:30pm, ALT presents an orchestral workshop concert of SHE WHO DARED by composer Jasmine Arielle Barnes and librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton. Everyone has heard of Rosa Parks, but she wasn’t the first to refuse to move. She Who Dared recenters the spotlight on the courageous women who helped desegregate the Montgomery bus system in the 1950’s leading to the momentous court case of Browder v. Gayle. The highly melodic score liberally references musical idioms of the time, including soul, gospel, and protest music. While often riotous and sometimes hilarious, She Who Dared demonstrates how everyday people have the power to challenge the systems around them and affect tangible change – if only they dare.

Experience the fully scored work as the opera heads towards its WORLD PREMIERE in June 2025!

ALT's Associate Artistic Director, Maestro Kelly Kuo conducts a world class chamber orchestra and cast of artists:

CAST

Claudette Colvin - (To be announced)

Mary Louise Smith - Lindsey Reynolds

Rosa Parks - Jacqueline Echols McCarley

Susie “Mama Sue” MacDonald - (To be announced)

Aurelia Browder - Maya Davis

Jo Ann Robinson - Jazmine Olwalia

Jeanetta Reese - Cierra Byrd

*The orchestral workshop of SHE WHO DARED was made possible in part by the following grants from OPERA America: Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grant and Opera Grants for Women Composers: Commissioning Grant.

InsightALT events were created to give the public an intimate, insiders look behind the scenes of American Lyric Theater’s process of creating new operas. Each event features a concert reading of a new opera in development at ALT, featuring guest singers from the world's leading opera houses, followed an interactive discussion between the audience and the writers behind each work. These conversations, moderated by ALT's founder, Lawrence Edelson, use Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process to engage with those experiencing the opera for the first time to help the writers on their journeys.

American Lyric Theater’s programs are made possible by generous lead funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, he Amphion Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University; and the support of many individual donors.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street, New York, United States