Les Angles Mortes will present a reinterpretation of Tom-tom on June 3
Les Angles Mortes is a Montreal-based ensemble directed by Julie Richard that rehabilitates marginalized works of classical music produced by African-American women. The ensemble will present Shirley Graham Du Bois’s Tom-Tom on June 3rd at La Sala Rossa as part of the Suoni per il Popolo Festival.
In 1932, Shirley Graham Du Bois composed the opera Tom-Tom: An Epic of Music and the Negro, thought to be the first opera ever written by a black woman. Graham Du Bois advanced civil rights and the arts in a number of countries. She is the author of an opera, numerous plays, and of biographies that have illuminated the black experience in America. She is considered an emblematic figure in black theatre and a fervent defender of human rights.
The opera Tom-Tom was a great success at the time of its premiere – before vanishing into history. The score disappeared until it was rediscovered in 2001 in the archives of Harvard University among the papers of W. E. B. Dubois, Shirley’s husband. Tom-Tom showcases the evolution of tribal songs and drums into early jazz and cabaret. Its seminal influences migrated from Africa to slave plantations and then to Harlem in the 1920s. The work is now a cornerstone of the history of black creativity in America.
Under the artistic direction of Julie Richard, a Haitian-Canadian composer, musician, and historian of black female composers, Les Angles Mortes produced a new and reimagined staging of Tom-Tom, putting it in dialogue with contemporary aspects of the black experience and revealing new artistic qualities. Committed to preserving the legacy of forgotten black composers, Richard founded the Black Ark Orchestra and Les Angles Mortes. Her reimagined compositions don’t faithfully reconstruct the originals. She does, however, contribute to a living, non-linear narrative that is at once healing, transformative, and creative.
This is the first Canadian production of Tom-Tom, which features important aspects of the African-American experience, and whose cast and production team are entirely Canadian and predominantly racialized. Featuring a choir, dancers, musicians, and singers, this important work is sure to inspire, inform and amaze.
Watch a teaser below and learn more about Les Angles Mortes via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I am a classically trained composer and musician with expertise in various musical genres, including jazz, experimental, and African music. I have performed extensively across North America and internationally. I am committed to preserving the legacy of forgotten Black composers has inspired me to form the Black Ark Orchestra and Les Angles Mortes.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Composed by 35-year-old Shirley Graham, Tom-Tom was the first opera by a Black woman to be produced by a major company in the United States. Over three acts, it hurtled through time and space, offering a diasporic narrative of African American history that compressed centuries and continents into a work of vast aesthetic proportions. One critic called it a “revolutionary project.” Another deemed it an “opera which marks an epoch in the history of creative music in this country.” A third proclaimed that it was a “new opera. Something different from what has preceded it in history.” Yet despite the immense success of its first production, Tom-Tom disappeared from the stage. The opera has not been staged since its 1932 premiere.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration when writing?
I travel a lot, and being exposed to random events sparks creativity in me.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
SUONI PER IL POPOLO SUONI PER IL POPOLO 2023 PRESENTS: Les Angles Mortes, Tom-Tom + DJ ANDY EX co présenté par AIM (Arts in the Margins).
Saturday, June 3, 2023
Doors: 20h30 pm
Show: 21h00 pm
Cost: $15-$20
Where: La Sala Rossa / 4848 Boulevard Saint Laurent
Tickets are available here.
What’s your goal for 2023?
I am looking at presenting the Opera in full as a live event, working on retrieving other lost figures’ stories.