San Francisco Opera

In this new opera from Grammy-winning artist Rhiannon Giddens and composer Michael Abels, the act of writing is the preservation of identity. A true story of an indomitable faith enshrined in a two-hundred-year-old autobiography, Omar was described by The New York Times as a “sweeping achievement.”

In the early 1800s, Islamic scholar Obar Ibn Said was forcibly taken from his village in West Africa and sold into slavery in Charleston, South Carolina. Attempting to flee, he was imprisoned in Fayetteville and taken to the plantation of another slaveholder, eager to convert him to Christianity. There Omar records his story in Arabic, transforming his world into an expansive canvas of text and faith, profoundly realized in Kaneza Schaal’s transcendent production.

Omar stars Jamez McCorkle in the title role, Brittany Renee as Julie, Taylor Raven as Fatima (Omar’s Mother), Daniel Okulitch as Johnson/Owen, Norman Garrett as Abdul (Omar’s Brother/Abe), Laura Krumm as Eliza, and Barry Banks as Auctioneer/Taylor. Conductor John Kennedy will lead the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

Performances are approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes including one intermission and the opera is sung in English. Omar is a co-commission and co-production by Spoleto Festival USA, Carolina Performing Arts at UNC Chapel Hill, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.