March 29, 2021

Dr. Lance Inouye, Director of Orchestral Activities, joins Portland Opera for “Journeys to Justice”

Lance Inouye, Associate Professor and Director of Orchestral Activities, joins Portland Opera in their production of Journeys to Justice, directed by Chip Miller. The production begins with Songs for the African Violet, about the resilience that is demanded of Black women finding joy. We go to Two Black Churches, where we grieve with communities generations apart—both facing the aftermath of murder and hate crimes perpetrated by white supremacists. In “Your Daddy’s Son” we witness a desperate mother’s grief and song to her child, and with The Talk we share a coming-of-age conversation that is a matter of life and death. In Night Trip we stop at a gas station with a Black family on a road trip in Jim Crow America, and then we celebrate the choice to love—expressed through the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Songs of Love and Justice. Inouye will conduct Damien Geter’s The Talk and Carlos Simon’s Night Trip featuring Resident Artists Jasmine Johnson, David Morgans Sanchez, Edwin Jhamal Davis, and the Portland Opera Chorus.

Digital access will be available from April 16 through May 31 on Portland Opera Onscreen. You can find out more about this event on the Portland Opera website.