Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, an opera that blends ragtime, Black folksongs, spirituals, ballet, and traditional operatic elements, is being brought to the stage by playwright and Colgate Associate Professor of Theater Kyle Bass. It will be performed by the Washington National Opera (WNO) on March 7, 8, and 15 at Lisner Auditorium on the campus of George Washington University, the same venue where the WNO held its first performance 70 years ago.
Francesca Zambello ’78, WNO artistic director and inaugural Clifford Innovator in Residence at Colgate (2025), commissioned Bass as librettist and composer Damien Sneed to bring Treemonisha to life. The production will be directed by Denyce Graves.
“One of the aspects that excites me about this project,” said Bass, “is that the WNO’s new production of Treemonisha will introduce Joplin’s opera to many who may only know him as a composer of ragtime music. Additionally, this new version may also present Joplin to audiences for the first time as an important, influential, original, and uniquely American composer.”
Originally conceived by Joplin, known as America’s “King of Ragtime,” his production was never completed before his death in 1917. Set in 1884, the story follows Treemonisha, an educated freedwoman on a former plantation, as she challenges superstition and defies “conjurers” to become her community’s teacher and leader.
The production stars WNO Cafritz Young Artist Viviana Goodwin, lauded by WNO as one of its emerging stars, in the title role, as well as Marian Anderson Award-winner Justin Austin as Remus and Grammy-winning Tichina Vaughn as Monisha. Kedrick Armstrong conducts the Washington National Opera Orchestra.
Bass’s version of the opera is one of three American works being produced by the WNO this season.
“This spring, we will present three American works that explore themes at the heart of what makes our country great,” said Zambello. “Treemonisha celebrates the triumph of education over ignorance, while The Crucible is a cautionary tale about a righteous mob that murders innocent women and tears families apart. We close with West Side Story, a modern spin on the Shakespeare play that Leonard Bernstein called ‘an out and out plea for racial tolerance.’ I am thrilled that Washington National Opera audiences in our nation’s capital will have the opportunity to experience these profound works of art. I hope our productions can serve as a springboard for dialogue and perhaps even a source of healing.”