The BORN Black Opera Critical Editions Advisory Board seeks proposals for new critical editions of operas by Black composers and/or librettists.
In January 2025, OperaCréole and Opera Lafayette collaborated to perform Edmond Dédé’s Morgaine, ou, Le sultan d’Ispahan (1887), the oldest known opera by a Black American composer to have a surviving complete score. This historic performance took years to come to fruition in part because there was no modern score. The opera companies in partnership with musicologists created an edited score and parts from the only extant archival source. Few opera companies have the time or resources to undertake such a big project. Instead, it is up to music studies specialists to supply the critical editions needed to study and to perform works that do not have readily available scores. The lack of edited scores is one of the principal impediments to the study and performance of operas by historic Black composers and librettists. The rich operatic tradition is beggared by the loss of Black voices. Providing critically sound and accessible scores of Black operas is the fastest way to make long-lasting change by expanding the canon to become more representative of all the people who have participated in and shaped the genre.
The Black Opera Research Network (BORN) is establishing the Black Opera Critical Editions to begin to address the lack of published scores by composers and librettists from the African diaspora. BORN is an international organization that explores opera both inside and outside of the traditional operatic and scholarly institutions in the West. BORN’s diverse membership includes specialists in opera performance and scholarship living on three continents. We seek to perform reparative work within the study and performance of opera by including the output of Black composers and librettists in the historical record and by supporting operatic performance and scholarship taking place outside of major European and American research and musical institutions. As part of our mission, BORN encourages the study and performance of operas by historic Black composers and librettists.
The Board will provide as much support to selected volume editors as possible including securing publication contracts and serving as recommenders for grant applications. We are also actively seeking funding as an organization to provide technological, editorial, copyediting, and other kinds of assistance to volume editors. Operas may originate from any country or time period. Preference for selection will be given to operas in which composers or librettists are deceased or at the end of their careers when their work is unlikely to find a publisher, and for which there is currently no published score.
The Advisory Board understands that these kinds of projects take years to complete. Therefore, each volume editor will construct a timeline for completion of their edition in consultation with the Advisory Board. The final form of every volume will be determined by the available manuscript sources, the amount of reconstruction that might be needed, and other factors. As much as possible, editors should expect to prepare a full score from which individual instrumental and vocal parts could be extracted, a vocal/piano score, a translation of the libretto into English for texts in another language, and a short critical essay with biographical information on the opera’s creative team, an analytical discussion of the opera, the historical and cultural context of the work, information on the manuscript source(s), and an explanation of the editorial process and decisions. The final editions should be suitable for both performance and scholarly use. A-R Editions in the United States is interested in publishing the Black Opera Critical Editions in print and as part of their digital subscription service. Editors should expect to generally follow A-R Editions’ Style Guide, but the demands of individual scores and the editors’ preferences will determine final editorial policies for each volume.
The proposal should explain the history of the opera and its creative team, the rationale for an edition, the location and the condition of available sources for the edition, and the current stage of the project. Preference will be given to editions that are currently in preparation, but we will consider projects at any stage. Advisory Board members are happy to answer questions and consult with prospective editors prior to the submission of a proposal.
Please submit a proposal of 500 words on or before 15 July 2025, using this Google Form.
The Black Opera Critical Editions Advisory Board consists of Naomi André (UNC-Chapel Hill), Michael Mohammed (San Francisco Conservatory), Hilde Roos (Stellenbosch University), Louise Toppin (University of Michigan), and Kristen M. Turner (Chair of the Board). Please address questions to Kristen Turner at blackoperaresearchnetwork@gmail.com