longing to tell – a blues opera

A team of award-winning artists joins forces with Ensemble Resonanz to create a powerful evening exploring Black female intimacy – a night for fans of hip-hop, jazz and classical music alike.

Featuring: akua naru – musician, activist and professor of hip-hop in California – hailed by the press as the »Toni Morrison of hip-hop«. Tyshawn Sorey – celebrated composer, multi-instrumentalist and Pulitzer Prize winner – brings together band and ensemble in a layered, driving musical texture. Under the scenic direction of Anta Helena Recke, akua tells her own version of Tricia Rose’s »Longing to Tell« – stories of Black women, speaking of love and loss, tenderness and violence, intimacy and community.

akua naru, artistic leader & vocals
Tyshawn Sorey, artistic leader, composition and drums
Journi Sings, vocals
Monique B. Thomas, vocals
Raymond Thompson, vocals
Stephan Kondert, bass
James Gordon Williams, piano
Josiah Woodson, trumpet
Ensemble Resonanz

Anta Helena Recke, scenic realisation and dramaturgy
Gail Burton, artistic coordinator
JP Bendig, light design
Thomas Wegner, sound design

A co-production by Ensemble Resonanz, Kampnagel Hamburg, Wien Modern, KölnMusik, and Brown University Providence Rhode Island. Developed as part of the Körber Resonanz Lab, a collaboration between Ensemble Resonanz and the Körber Foundation. This platform is dedicated to developing innovative, trans-traditional concert projects performed in European concert halls.