Join two robust conversations about the American Dream by participants sharing diverse viewpoints from across political, social, economic, and cultural spectrums. A performance of the opera, La Fanciulla del West, follows the day’s presentations.
Puccini’s La fanciulla del West and its influences: placing the opera into a perspective
With Allison Loggins-Hull, Kira Thurman, Douglas Shadle
Elena Dubinets, moderator
Presentations/discussions by leading musicologists studying the opera, its time, reception, and influences. Kira Thurman, author of Singing Like Germans, will speak about the American Dream from a perspective of an African-American scholar studying the musicianship of black artists. Douglas Shadle, author of Orchestrating the Nation: The Nineteenth-Century American Symphonic Enterprise and co-author of a forthcoming book about Florence Price, will address institutional problems related to underrepresented composers in the United States. Allison Loggins-Hull is The Cleveland Orchestra’s Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow, and Elena Dubinets is Curator of the Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival: The American Dream.
Cleveland’s Cultural DNA and The American Dream: Past, Present, and Future
Co-presented by The City Club of Cleveland
Rick Jackson, moderator, ideastream Senior Host/Producer
Panelists TBC or to be announced
This panel will examine how the idea of the American Dream has played out in Cleveland, starting with the displacement of Indigenous people at the founding of the city. While Cleveland’s role in both the Underground Railroad and later the Great Migration held out hope for access to opportunity, that hope was often undermined by policies that shaped economic reality throughout the 20th century and up to the present day. And as we look toward the future for our city, we will dream together about the creation of opportunity across our diverse communities.
This event is free and open to the public and is part of the 2023 Cleveland Humanities Festival: Wellness.