Nashville Opera Presents Opportunity for Tennessee Students

From Hannah Marcoe, Education Program Administrator, Nashville Opera | Noah Liff Opera Center

Nashville Opera has commissioned a new work that highlights the stories of Nashville suffragist Frankie Pierce and civil rights activist Diane Nash—all through the lens of the ongoing struggle for equal rights in voting. ONE VOTE WON is being created as part of the Suffrage Centennial and in order to lift up the stories of Black women who continued to fight for the right to vote through the 20th century.

ONE VOTE WON is a true Nashville opera—beautifully written, composed, sung, directed, and filmed by Nashvillians. (We can’t think of a better way to mark Nashville Opera’s 40th Anniversary!) Emmy-nominated composer Dave Ragland has created an amazingly accessible score that references gospel and ragtime and even uses the spoken word to flesh out ONE VOTE WON’s historic and contemporary characters. Award-winning playwright and screenwriter Mary McCallum’s libretto brings sensitivity and believable immediacy to the piece.

The powerful three-woman cast features Tamica Nicole Harris as the young Gloria; Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva as Frankie Pierce (1864–1954), one of Tennessee’s most active black suffragists; and Brooke Leigh Davis as Diane Nash (born 1938), whose efforts included the first successful civil rights campaign to integrate lunch counters.

ONE VOTE WON will be made available to educators along with access to our study guide made in partnership with MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, after our premiere to the general public on September 28th, 2020.

Here is the link to register for FREE educator access and to download the study guide: https://www.nashvilleopera.org/vote-schools

Please let me know if you have any questions: hmarcoe@nashvilleopera.org.