UNCG alumna Rhiannon Giddens awarded Pulitzer Prize in Music
Rhiannon Giddens at a concert rehearsal in 2018. Giddens has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Music for "Omar," an opera she co-wrote with Michael Abels. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Rhiannon Giddens, who studied music as a graduate student at UNC Greensboro, will receive the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music for the opera “Omar,” which she co-wrote with Michael Abels. According to a university news release, the work explores the life of Omar Ibn Said, a Muslim who was enslaved in the Carolinas in the 19th century.
The Pulitzer committee released a statement saying the opera expands “the language of the operatic form while conveying the humanity of those condemned to bondage.”
Giddens, a two-time Grammy winner, received a MacArthur “Genius” grant in 2017.
The opera “Omar” premiered at Charleston’s Spoleto Festival in 2022, less than a mile from where Said was sold. It has since been performed in several U.S. cities.
Giddens is scheduled to return to Greensboro for a performance at the Carolina Theater in September.
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