Music by Maria Thompson Corley
Libretto by Diana Solomon-Glover
Congressman John Lewis famously said, “Get into good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” John Lewis: Good Trouble explores the Civil Rights Movement through the lens of the heroic activist and politician. The opera weaves together two perspectives—Lewis as a young man, serving as a catalyst in the 1960s fight for civil rights, and Lewis as an elder statesman in 2012, considered to be the conscience of Congress by many on both sides of the aisle. Lewis’s journey follows his embrace of nonviolent resistance through the sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.” Through it all, Lewis charged his successors and colleagues to come together to create a more just world.
Commissioned by Cincinnati Opera as part of its groundbreaking Black Opera Project, the complete work will receive its world premiere at Music Hall in the summer of 2027.
Tickets: $15 (adults); free for full-time students (1 ticket per valid ID)
Commissioning support for works in The Black Opera Project is provided by The Mellon Foundation.
DISCOVER
Learn more about Opera Fusion: New Works, a partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) dedicated to fostering the development of new American operas.