Item details

Date

August 19, 2023 5:30PM

Name

Building a Loving Community: Act 1 Piano/Vocal Workshop in Richmond

Description

Join Virginia Opera for a 90-minute presentation featuring excerpts from the Act 1 piano/vocal score for Loving v. Virginia. This peek behind-the-scenes is just one stop on the road to the world-premiere tour of Loving v. Virginia, coming to the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, Dominion Energy Center in Richmond, and Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax in Spring 2025. 

Loving v. Virginia will be an operatic retelling of the groundbreaking United States Supreme Court case centered around the interracial marriage of Mildred and Richard Loving.  In 1958, they were sentenced to prison for marrying each other, which was illegal in Virginia due to its Racial Integrity Act of 1924. Having appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which upheld the conviction, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision overturning their conviction in 1967. Seen as a significant victory for civil rights in the United States, Loving v. Virginia was cited as a precedent in the 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage. 

The workshop presentation on Saturday, August 19th at 5:30 PM will take place at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU in Richmond at 601 W Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23220. 

This event is currently at capacity. To join our waiting list, please email info@vaopera.org.