CINCINNATI, Ohio--August 8, 2005. Cincinnati Opera is pleased to announce the commission of a new opera based on the life of John P. Parker, considered one of the leading local conductors on the Underground Railroad. The project marks the first-time collaboration between composer Adolphus Hailstork and librettist David Gonzalez. Cincinnati-based playwright and director Mary Tensing is the project dramaturg.

We Rise for Freedom: The John P. Parker Story tells of Parker's heroic journey to freedom. Born into slavery in 1827, Parker was enslaved in Virginia and Alabama before he purchased his own freedom in 1845. He moved to Cincinnati, ultimately settling in the thriving abolitionist river community of Ripley, Ohio, where he worked as the owner of an iron foundry and inventor by day and as a conductor on the Underground Railroad by night. For nearly fifteen years, John P. Parker risked his life again and again to help hundreds of fugitive slaves escape to freedom.

Like so many narratives of those who were enslaved, John P. Parker's story was not widely known until his autobiography, "His Promised Land," was discovered and published by W.W. Norton in 1996. The John P. Parker Historical Society, Inc. was founded in 1996 to recognize, commemorate, and preserve the extraordinary legacy of John P. Parker and his remarkable family. His home in Ripley was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1997, and is now open to the public (please visit www.johnparkerhouse.org for details).

"John P. Parker was a true local hero and his story provides a prism through which many narratives of the Underground Railroad may be shared and studied," said Naomi Hoyt, Cincinnati Opera Director of Education. "His courageous work freed hundreds of enslaved individuals and gave countless others the inspiration to seek freedom. It is an honor to bring John P. Parker’s uplifting and important story to students and families through the creation of this new opera."

Cinergy Provides Leadership Grant $250,000
Cinergy has awarded a grant of $250,000, $175,000 of which will provide Title Sponsorship support for Freedom is Calling. The project has an estimated commission and production budget of $275,000, and a total combined project budget of $375,000, including education and community programming. The remaining portion of Cinergys grant will support the Operas main stage productions (performance evening sponsorships) during the 2004-2008 seasons.

"The Cinergy Foundation is proud to sponsor the commission and presentation of John P. Parkers courageous story," said Joe Hale, President of The Cinergy Foundation. "It is our hope that this opera will help children and adults alike to better understand and discuss the local and national historical significance of this period of time."

Cincinnati Opera will premiere the new opera in October 2007, as a special fall production in addition to the company's summer season (to accommodate school-time performances in addition to a public schedule). It will be a one-act opera (approximately 60 minutes in length) featuring a fully-staged production, a chamber-sized orchestra, a cast of seven (all principal characters are adults), and a small chorus of adults and children.

"We are very pleased that John Parkers life and work is being recognized with a new opera," said Betty Campbell, Trustee and Immediate Past President of the Parker Historical Society, Inc. "John Parker is a genuine American hero and his story needs to be shared with the world."

About The Creative Team
The project marks the Cincinnati Opera debut of award-winning American composer Adolphus Hailstork. His symphonic, chamber, and choral works have been performed by major orchestras all over the nation, including Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York, and have been led by leading conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, and Kurt Masur.

Recognized for his range of compositional styles, this is Dr. Hailstork's third opera. In 1995, Dayton Opera commissioned the new one-act opera Paul Laurence Dunbar: Common Ground. In 1999, the composer's second symphony (commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra), and his second opera, Joshua's Boots (commissioned by the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Kansas City Lyric Opera), were premiered. In 2002, James Conlon conducted Hailstork's oratorio Done Made My Vow at the renowned Cincinnati May Festival. A CD of Hailstork's Symphonies No. 2 and 3, recorded by David Lockington with the Grand Rapids Symphony, will be released this year. His career also has included professorships at Youngstown State University in Ohio, Norfolk State University in Virginia, and Old Dominion University, also in Norfolk, Virginia, where currently he is Eminent Scholar and Professor of Music.

"I am looking forward to working with Cincinnati Opera and David Gonzalez on this important story about the Underground Railroad," said Hailstork. "John P. Parker was a leading conductor on the road to freedom for hundreds of enslaved individuals. His own words reveal the harrowing events of the flights to freedom that occurred in Ripley, Ohio. This is a story that demands vivid presentation on the opera stage, and Im proud to be apart of honoring his life with this new work."

Broadway playwright and librettist David Gonzalez has created numerous productions including the critically acclaimed shows ¡Sofrito! with Larry Harlow and The Latin Legends Band, and MytholoJazz with the D.D. Jackson Trio, both of which enjoyed sold-out runs at Broadway's New Victory Theater. His work Double Crossed: The Saga of the St. Louis, was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution's Discovery Theater and has toured nationally including at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He recently premiered Finding North, a one-man play with music by Marvin Sewell, based on the Underground Railroad, which premiered at the Tony-award winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park with the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Frog Bride, a new work joining the music of Prokofiev, the paintings of Kandinsky, and a Russian fairy tale, developed with the support of Mass MoCA, will premiere at the New Victory Theater in 2006. Mr. Gonzalez’s poetry has been featured at Lincoln Center's Out-of-Doors Festival in 2001, Bill Moyers's documentary Fooling with Words on PBS, as well as NPR's All Things Considered. He received his doctorate in Music Therapy from New York University's School of Education.

Cincinnati-based actor, playwright, director, and teacher Mary Tensing will serve as dramaturg, assisting the team with historical research. In Cincinnati, she has performed in numerous productions including: The Christmas Carol (Playhouse in the Park), Durang Durang (The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati), and Ironmistress (The Women's Theatre Initiative). A number of theatres have commissioned her to write new works: Rapunzel, Thanksgiving Eve, The Rockin' Adventures of Peter Rabbit, Hansel and Gretel (The Children's Theatre), Tales of the Baba Yaga, Placing Out (The School for the Creative and Performing Arts). And she has directed One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace for The Women's Theater Initiative, Neat by Charlayne Woodard for The Know Theatre Tribe, and her own version of Androcles and the Lion for The Children's Theatre, as well as a number of touring productions for Cincinnati Opera's Education Ensemble and Theatre IV. Mary is a graduate of Cincinnati's School for Creative and Performing Arts and Northwestern University.

"We are thrilled to be working with these accomplished artists to bring the heroic tale of another significant local historical figure to the Cincinnati Opera stage," said Cincinnati Opera Artistic Director Evans Mirageas. "It is imperative that we continue the important dialogue and community engagement that was inspired by Margaret Garner, and we are grateful to have the community support necessary to commit to another significant new commission."

According to Cincinnati Opera General Director and CEO Patricia K. Beggs, the idea for the commission of a new opera based on the life of John P. Parker was generated during the planning process for Margaret Garner, the company's first main-stage commission by Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison created in honor of the Freedom Center. "The community response to Margaret Garner was positively overwhelming and sent a clear signal that there is a need, in fact a demand, for works that honor our history, inspire meaningful dialogue, and bring our community together. We are grateful to Cinergy for providing a leadership grant that has enabled us to engage these wonderful artists to create this new opera. We look forward to building on the many successful community partnerships that were inspired by Margaret Garner as we prepare to bring John P. Parker's moving story to the Cincinnati Opera stage."

"As was the case with the wonderful Margaret Garner production, the Cincinnati Opera is helping to bring to modern audiences another important figure from the era of the Underground Railroad whose example still resonates today," said Dr. Spencer Crew, CEO and President of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. "John Parker's story is the personification of courage in pursuit of freedom, and we are delighted that the Opera will bring his life to the stage."