Join us for a conversation with Kira Thurman, author of Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, and Seattle Opera scholar-in-residence Dr. Naomi André. Drawing on her experience as a classically trained pianist who grew up in Vienna, Austria, Thurman traces the sweeping story of Black musicians performing in Germany and Austria over more than a century.
As musicians like Marian Anderson and Grace Bumbry broke barriers on stage and in concert halls, they found opportunities in German-speaking Europe that were denied to them in the Jim Crow-era U.S. In doing so, they also challenged categories of Blackness and Germanness and complicated the public's understanding of how music is tied to racial and national identity.
This event will include a book-signing, offered in partnership with Elliott Bay Book Company.
Kira Thurman is Assistant Professor of History and Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan and is a founder of blackcentraleurope.com.
Naomi André is the David G. Frey Distinguished Professor in Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the author of Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement and a founder of the Black Opera Research Network.
This event has been made possible through the generous support of the German Consulate General San Francisco.
Special Donor Event
Donors are invited to join us for a reception before the program begins. If you are a donor and wish to attend please RSVP before Tuesday, October 18, 2022. There is no need for an additional RSVP to attend the donor reception. Simply RSVP once to the event.
6:15 PM | Reception
7:00 PM | Opera Talk Begins
BRAVO! POST-TALK EVENT
BRAVO! Members are invited to head over to Solo Bar and Eatery after the talk to join Dennis Robinson Jr., Director of Programs and Partnerships, for an informal discussion continuing on the themes of the evening. There is no need for an additional RSVP to attend the BRAVO! post-talk event. Meet up in the lobby after the talk and head over together!
7:00 PM | Opera Talk Begins
8:30 PM | BRAVO! at Solo Bar and Eatery