The Righteous

Santa Fe Opera World Premiere: July 13-August 13, 2024  | NY Times Critic's Pick | Music by Gregory Spears | Libretto by Tracy K. Smith | Directed by Kevin Newbury

David struggles to reconcile spirituality with ambition. His desire for more transforms his relationship with his family, friends and, perhaps, his own faith. His journey from preacher to Governor, like the lives of those closest to him, is shaped by current affairs of the 1980s.

Cincinnati Opera world premiere 2022 | NY Times Critic's Pick | Music by Gregory Spears | Libretto by Tracy K. Smith

A long overdue family reunion finds two African American cousins at odds over the fate of a historic parcel of land they have inherited in the American South. Castor is eager to sell the land to pay off his crushing debt, but Patience is determined to fight off overzealous investors and preserve her family’s legacy. Deeply relevant to ongoing calls for racial justice, Castor and Patience probes historical and continuing obstacles to Black land ownership in the U.S. With powerful, soaring music by Gregory Spears, composer of Cincinnati Opera's acclaimed 2016 commission Fellow Travelers, and an original libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith, this timeless and topical premiere is the buzz of the opera world.