CINCINNATI (AP) 鈥� The Cincinnati Opera has postponed the premiere of the Afrofuturist-themed 鈥淟alovavi鈥� by one year to the summer of 2026.
The company said Monday the libretto by Tifara Brown is still being worked on, delaying the music composition by Kevin Day.
with a premiere date of June 19, 2025, in conjunction with the Juneteenth holiday. 鈥淟alovavi鈥� means 鈥渓ove鈥� in the , and the three-act work is set in the year 2119.
The second of the three works in the company's Black Opera Project, 鈥淕ood Trouble: The Boy from Troy,鈥� was postponed by a year to the summer of 2027. Inspired by the life of , it has music by Maria Thompson Corley and a libretto by Diana Solomon Glove.
A third work is to debut in the summer of 2028.
鈥淲e鈥檙e committed to providing each of these important new stories the creative space and resources to achieve their creators鈥� respective visions,鈥� Cincinnati Opera artistic director Evans Mirageas said in a statement. "This adjustment will allow additional time for each opera鈥檚 development and refinement.鈥�
The Associated Press
