North Carolina Music Office Hosts 60 Teachers and Students at the North Carolina Opera!

On Saturday, December 14, the North Carolina Opera hosted "The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson," a powerful production that shines a spotlight on the incredible legacy of Mary Cardwell Dawson. Dawson, a North Carolina-born (Rockingham County) trailblazer in American opera, went on to found the National Negro Opera Company. The NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) and the North Carolina Arts Council sponsored the production at NC Opera. With additional support from DNCR's North Carolina Music Office and the NC Opera, 60 incredible teachers and students were able to experience this fabulous performance. 

This fantastic evening provided:

• Inspiration: Dawson's story showcases resilience, creativity, and the transformative power of the arts, encouraging young minds to dream big.
• Representation: Celebrating Dawson's achievements helps amplify the often-overlooked contributions of Black artists in shaping American culture.
• Education: For students and educators, this performance was a rich opportunity to connect history, music, and social change in an unforgettable way. Not to mention, many cast and production team members are proud HBCU graduates, showing yet another example of the quality, holistic education available at HBCUs.

Following the performance, several of the students that attended reflected on their experience:

• Adilyn Matthews: "This opera was amazing to say the least. It was my first opera, so I was not too sure what to expect.  The story was so well told, the stage design, costumes, and performers were extraordinary. Everyone was so talented, I can't believe they were able to tell the story in just 1 hour.  It explained the struggles of being Black during the Jim Crow era, the challenges and successes that Mary Cardwell Dawson faced as an African American woman running an opera business.  It was amazing to see people, meet new people, and attend this amazing experience I will never forget."
• Opal Giganti: "I liked how efficient the director was at telling such a complete story in such a short amount of time, as well as the details of the stage setup and costumes. In only an hour, it showed me the struggles black people faced and went through for large and small things such as a decent place to perform a show. The experience in the theater was great, I would have loved to see an extended version of this, as well as Carmen, the show Madame Mary Cardwell Dawson and her pupils Phobe, Frank, and Isabelle practice. I feel like I learned so much about the not just the characters but the era in which they lived. Madame Mary Cardwell Dawson is not a well-known figure in the civil rights movement, but she is an important one, she was part of the reason people of color were able to sing on stage as well as have good seating in the theater. It must have taken a very brave person to look in the face of discrimination and fight back with tool she was given, her voice."
• Arantza Avila: "The opera was truly an amazing experience. When I thought of an opera, I used to think of singers sitting and just singing to hit high complicated notes. Singing without a plot or without a purpose or at least a purpose that is not well understood. However, when we went, I was not expecting what I saw, there was such emotion and feeling, and a well-developed story line. I didn't have to know the language of opera, which I think was Italian, in order to understand the feeling of the characters when singing. I really liked the way the singers / actors expressed their character every single minute. If one character said something, no matter how funny or dramatic, the said actor or said singer would show expressions that impressively matched their character. The lesson that stood out and was most important to me was that you can't give in to disrespect, and you have to at times demand your seat at the table even when it seems impossible. If you have a passion for something, it is worth fighting for even if it is a rough path, you will eventually succeed."

Check out these curriculum materials for teaching about Mary Cardwell Dawson in your classroom, and help shine a light on this under-taught North Carolina trailblazer!

Interested in participating in special musical engagements such as these? Make sure you follow the NC Music Office and look out for future opportunities in our Learning Happens Here monthly e-news!