"Free to Sing: The Story of the First African-American Opera Company" is a world premiere Strathmore production about the heroic story of Washington's "Colored American Opera Company," one of the first black opera troupes in the United States.

The performance will take place on February 16, 2008 8:00pm at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD.

Commissioned by Strathmore, the original script charts the true story of some of Washington's most prominent African-American individuals, as they use their musical talent to raise money to build a Catholic church and schools for their children in the 1870s.

St. Augustine Parish traces its heritage back 150 years to 1858 and the efforts of a group of dedicated emancipated black Catholics. These men and women founded a Catholic school and chapel on 15th Street.

With a heavy emphasis on music and education, the church employed former Marine Band member (and John Philip Sousa's teacher), Professor John Esputa, to lead its chorus. Choir member William T. Benjamin and Professor Esputa went on to form the Colored American Opera Company. In order to raise money for a new church and for the education of children, the opera company launched a successful tour. In 1873, the opera company presented seven performances of Julius Eichberg's The Doctor of Alcantara to mixed race audiences.

The opera company eventually raised $75,000 towards the construction of St. Augustine Church.

"Free to Sing" focuses on the musical accomplishments of the opera company with an introductory narrative. The evening will conclude with the first major concert presentation of an important American operetta, Julius Eichberg's The Doctor of Alcantara, in almost 100 years.

"Free to Sing," is directed by Emmy Award-winning director Scot Reese, and narrated by Helen Hayes Award winner David Emerson Toney . The concert performance features the Morgan State University Choir, the Post-Classical Ensemble, soprano Awet Andemicael, tenor Kenneth Gayle, Carmen Balthrop, Millicent Scarlett, and Gylchris Sprauve.

For more information on "Free to Sing," call 301-581-5100 or visit www. strathmore.org.

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