Virginia Opera Chief Conductor Adam Turner, left, and Damien Geter, composer in residence at the Richmond Symphony, with the score of Geter’s new opera, “Loving v. Virginia.” Photo courtesy of Virginia Opera.
In Thursday’s (4/17) Washington Post, Michael Andor Brodeur writes, “This month, Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony will present the world premiere of composer Damien Geter and librettist Jessica Murphy Moo’s ‘Loving v. Virginia,’ an operatic retelling of the events leading to the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that declared laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional and set the stage for decades of subsequent advances in civil rights. Denyce Graves-Montgomery will direct this new production starring soprano Flora Hawk in the role of Mildred Jeter Loving and baritone Jonathan Michie as Richard. Virginia Opera artistic director Adam Turner will conduct…. ‘Loving v. Virginia’ will [debut] in Norfolk (April 25 and 27) … with runs in Fairfax (May 3-4) and Richmond (May 9-11). Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony—where Geter is composer in residence through 2026—commissioned ‘Loving’ in 2022 for its 50th anniversary season this year. Geter signed on immediately, having considered composing an opera on the Lovings years prior … Much of the opera’s music blooms from Geter’s operatic affection for Puccini, Verdi and Mozart, as well as a simple folkish theme that carries ‘the idea of home’ through the score…. ‘Loving v. Virginia’ is the latest in what has been a string of operatic and chamber works that find Geter in direct dialogue with issues of racial and social justice.”
