Payton Turner

September 25, 2017

MWF 9-9:50

An Evening with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Tania Leon

The evening of Sept. 25 marked the premiere of an unprecedented collaboration between

University of Central Arkansas staff and renowned composer Tania Leon and Dr. Henry Louis

Gates Jr.

The evening began with an introduction by Dr. Rollin Potter, the former dean of the

college of fine arts and communications, who introduced the Little Rock nine -who received a

standing ovation in response- as well as any others of mentioning. Potter provided a bit of

background by setting the scene and describing the 1950s.

Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. then took over after Potter, and introduced himself and

provided bits of his background such as that he grew up in a small town in West Virginia. Gates

read from his memoir Colored People, which further reflected upon his thoughts while he was

in the second grade and personally watched the events of the Little Rock Nine unfold. Gates

especially remarked how amazed he was at how well dressed and poised the nine were.

Gates was also very adamant in recognizing the role of women in history. Tania, Teloni,

and the people who perform it are making history and rewriting history Gates said about his

companion Tania Leon.

UCAs collaboration with Tania Leon and Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. began in 2011,

when Dr. Rollin Potter and another staff member proposed the idea of an opera based on the

historic Little Rock Nine. This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the historic moment, and

the opera is finally completed and will be making its world premiere later this year.
 The excerpt from the opera that was presented to the people in attendance presented four

of the nine talking about why they were so keen on integrating Little Rock Central. The four that

performed were dressed in period clothing and a recurring theme in the small excerpt was the

raising of their hands. The libretto of the excerpt was simple, and emphasized that the

protagonists werent looking to be pioneers of the civil rights movement, but just wanted to be

normal kids with the same opportunities as the white kids.

In the excerpt of the opera, Leon specifically honored the one member of the nine who

was deceased Jefferson Thomas. She said in her speech that she wanted to give him a voice that

evening, a statement which was met with applause.

After the excerpt and Leons speech, Dr. Donna Stephens -a UCA journalism professor-

moderated a discussion between Gates and Leon. They discussed the effects of politics in music

and how it influenced other composers including Beethoven. Composers have been activists

like every other artist said Leon.

The discussion continued with how opera mixed with black tradition and culture, which

for Gates this was the first hed really considered it. Gates went on to say opera was the last

frontier to quote Captain Kirk Gates and Leon both hope that this opera will pave the way for

future operas that are also based on other historical events.

After a bit more discussion Stephens opened the microphones for questions from the

audience. One particularly interesting audience member rambled for several minutes about

excerpts from a book that Gates had written before finally getting to his question which was

simply for Gates to sign his book. The audience was filled with laughter and Gates happily

signed the book.