Opera Tells Untold Story of New York’s Hidden Beginning: Could the Island’s Price Tag Really Have Been $24 Worth of Beads?
NEW YORK – “Purchase of Manhattan,” a new concert opera that sings to life New York’s hidden beginning, will have its world premiere at the historic Marble Collegiate Church on November 20, 2014. The opera is proudly presented by the Lenape Center, a nonprofit dedicated to continuing the cultural presence of Manhattan’s first inhabitants; the Collegiate Churches of New York, the oldest continuous Protestant congregation in North America; and Collegiate’s multi-faith, global peacemaking initiative, Intersections International.
The groundbreaking opera tells the untold story of how the early Dutch settlers of what was then New Netherland unjustly “purchased” the island of Manhattan from the Lenape people, supposedly for 60 guilders or the modern equivalent of $24. From the perspective of the Lenape, whose culture did not operate on the concept of land ownership, the opera explores the myth of the island’s sale. The project follows a formal, 400-year-old acknowledgement made by the Collegiate Churches of New York, formerly the First Dutch Reform Church, to the Lenape in 2009, recognizing their founders’ role in displacing the native peoples from Manhattan in the 1600s.
“Purchase of Manhattan” is scored by nationally recognized Mohican composer Brent Michael Davids, with a libretto by Abenaki author Joseph Bruchac. Conducted by Sara Jobin, the performance features three solo voices – soprano Alexandra Loutsion, Wampanoag tenor John Bellemer, and baritone Stephen Powell – a full chorus and orchestra, American Indian singers, and Native American flute. The music mingles American Indian and Western European styles in a hybrid mix that unifies both cultures despite their tumultuouspast.
November’s opera has grown out of a long Native tradition. In 1913, American Indian woman Zitkala Sa composed the first indigenous opera, “Sun Dance Opera,” and operas written by and about Native Americans have followed. In describing “Purchase of Manhattan” composer Brent Michael Davids’ compositional style, classical music critic Bill Parkercalls Davids, “never glib or facile, but rich in resonance.”
Tickets for the opera can be bought here for $24, a price set to reflect the myth of the Dutch purchase that history books mischaracterize. All proceeds from “Purchase of Manhattan” will go towards the development of a physical Lenape Center in Manhattan for the creation, distribution, and exhibition of Lenape arts and culture, with the purpose of engaging the story of the Lenape peoples within the contemporary fabric of New York City.
"The Lenape Center sees itself as a research platform and a place of action – for native and indigenous artists from around the globe to create new works that critically examine art, history and culture," said Joe Baker, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Lenape Center.
“Holding the New York City premiere of Purchase of Manhattan at Marble Collegiate Church is historic. Two communities, once separated by culture, race and religion, have worked together to bring this unique performance to New York City residents,” said Rev. Robert Chase, Founding Director of Intersections International. “This unfettered Native American perspective on early interactions between Lenape residents of Manhattan and Dutch settlers helps us all better understand our roots and how we can walk together in pathways of mutual respect and dignity.”
“Native audiences can be proud of their survival and of living culture presented in a contemporary form, and non-Indians can take a fresh look at their own origin myth, the so-called ‘Purchase of Manhattan’,” said Brent Michael Davids, Mohican Composer of the opera.
"We are presenting this opera here at Marble Collegiate Church as part of our yearlong Diversity Series. Using the arts as a medium allows each person who attends to profoundly experience this story, touching the hearts and minds of the audience in ways that mere words could never match, and spurring us to a greater sense of justice as we create the history that generations yet to come will inherit,” said Dr. Michael B. Brown, Senior Minister of Marble Collegiate Church.
"Moving to western Massachusetts five years ago, I thought with gratitude of the Mohican people who had loved and taken care of the land so well for ten thousand years,” said Sara Jobin, Conductor of the opera. “An inquiry into current day Mohican composers brought up Brent Michael Davids’ name right away, and eventually brought us into contact. In the face of global warming and climate change, I am interested in learning more about traditional Native values, and embodying those values in whatever way possible in pursuit of living in harmony with the earth. May we all walk side by side toward a brighter future together on this beloved planet."
"I live and grew up on Lenape land in Pennsylvania, the word Lenape is part of my heritage and community,” said Stephen Powell, Baritone Soloist. “I hope to do some service of good through this project and give something back to the original inhabitants of the land I call home."
For more information, please visit www.purchaseofmanhattan.com.