A Scholar Under Siege
Encyclopedia
A Scholar Under Siege is an opera
in two acts by contemporary American composer
Michael Braz. Braz also wrote the English language
libretto
for the opera which was composed for the centenary of Georgia Southern University
. It premiered on April 20, 2007 in Statesboro, Georgia
.
and Marvin Pittman who was president of Georgia Teachers College which later became Georgia Southern University. This episode in Georgia history is sometimes known as the "Cocking affair
." In brief, Talmadge fired Walter Cocking who was dean of the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Talmadge accused Cocking of championing integration
, in this case the admission of African American
students to historically all-white educational institutions. Talmadge flamboyantly declared that he would fire anyone who stood for "communism or racial equality". Talmadge fired Pittman for supporting Cocking against Talmadge. As a result of the firings, the teacher’s college lost its accreditation. Students rallied, and Pittman and Cocking were eventually rehired.
A Scholar Under Siege closely follows this story line with fiction
al dialog added for narrative effect. Pittman emerges as the hero and moral center of the opera which takes on overtones of its World War II
political backdrop when Pittman sings — referring to Talmadge, "One Hitler anywhere is one too many".
The cast of characters features only slightly fictionalized versions of many historic characters including not only Talmadge, Cocking, and Pittman, but also Atlanta Journal Constitution editor Ralph McGill
, Georgia Teachers College custodian Mose Bass, and Georgia Southern University alumnus and benefactor Jack Averitt. In Braz’s libretto
, Averitt is reimagined as the leader of the student movement that resulted in the restoration of Marvin Pittman to his post as university president. In real life, Averitt was a friend of the Pittman family, but did not lead the charge to have the president reinstalled.
for the Augusta Symphony Orchestra
. His previous compositions include his 1975 chamber opera
, Memoirs from the Holocaust.
Braz spent three years researching the historical background of A Scholar Under Siege and credits conversations with Georgia Southern colleagues, including retired Professor Dr. Del Presley, whose centennial history of Georgia Southern University was completed at the time of the opera's production. The opera premiered on April 20, 2007 at Georgia Southern University’s Performing Arts Center, conducted by Rodney H. Caldwell. The production, which ran for three performances was produced and directed by Sarah Hancock with set design by Gary Dartt, costume design Brenda Dartt, lighting design by Kelly Berry, and choreography
by Mallory Lanier.
The cast also included:
Dan Scofield (Dr. Alois Hundhammer), John Marshall (Jurt Feyer), Megan Otte (Mae Michael), Violet Martin (Maime Veazey), Shawn Tupper (Ernest Cannon), John Bressler (Dr. R. J. H. DeLoach), Cyril Durant (Tommie Banks), Dan Scofield (Sandy Beaver), Japheth Parker (Ormonde Hunter), Mark Diamond (Ellis Arnall), John Marshall (James Peters), Zac Case (Joe Ben Jackson), Sara Teate (Mrs. Sylla Hamilton), Liz Zettler (Hester Newton), Leo Parrish (Dr. Steadman V. Sanford).
said that it mirrored Braz’s influences which are cited as Benjamin Britten
, Béla Bartók
, and Leonard Bernstein
. Jim Galloway in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, described Braz as using "a blues
y, flat-noted tune to suggest the rather corrupt insider nature of Georgia’s state politics in the 1940s."
article about A Scholar Under Siege, Russ Bynum wrote, "Talmadge's defeat proved Georgia voters had limits to how far they would go to defend racial inequality." Braz said in an interview with the Savannah Morning News that political thinkers were noticing his opera because they saw parallels between the administrations of Eugene Talmadge and George W. Bush
. "Most attention to the opera so far has been from political writers who are fascinated with the text more than the music," Braz said. In the same interview, Braz described his opera as "a study of two conflicting views of power. Talmadge aimed to keep people afraid so that they would vote for him. For him, power was in the numbers. For Pittman, power was in education, in the heart and mind."
That his opera would be viewed as a political allegory pointing to the theater of current events was not an outcome that Braz specifically sought, he said in an interview for Eyrie, a Georgia Southern University internal publication, but he conceded that he did hate bullying, adding, "If it’s not stood up to, we’re saying it’s okay."
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in two acts by contemporary American composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Michael Braz. Braz also wrote the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
for the opera which was composed for the centenary of Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University
Georgia Southern University is a national public university located on a campus in Statesboro, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1906, it is part of the University System of Georgia and is the largest center of higher education in the southern half of Georgia offering 117 academic majors in a comprehensive...
. It premiered on April 20, 2007 in Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro, Georgia
Statesboro is a city in southeast Georgia, United States, and is the county seat and most populous city of Bulloch County. Statesboro has a population of 28,422 and the Statesboro, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 70,217...
.
Historical background and synopsis
The opera takes as its subject the historic confrontation between Georgia governor Eugene TalmadgeEugene Talmadge
Eugene Talmadge was a Democratic politician who served two terms as the 67th Governor of Georgia from 1933 to 1937, and a third term from 1941 to 1943. Elected to a fourth term in 1946, he died before taking office...
and Marvin Pittman who was president of Georgia Teachers College which later became Georgia Southern University. This episode in Georgia history is sometimes known as the "Cocking affair
Cocking affair
The Cocking affair was an attempt in 1941 by Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge to exert direct control over the state's educational system, particularly through the firing of Professor Walter Cocking and the subsequent removal of members of the Georgia Board of Regents who disagreed with the decision...
." In brief, Talmadge fired Walter Cocking who was dean of the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Talmadge accused Cocking of championing integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
, in this case the admission of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students to historically all-white educational institutions. Talmadge flamboyantly declared that he would fire anyone who stood for "communism or racial equality". Talmadge fired Pittman for supporting Cocking against Talmadge. As a result of the firings, the teacher’s college lost its accreditation. Students rallied, and Pittman and Cocking were eventually rehired.
A Scholar Under Siege closely follows this story line with fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al dialog added for narrative effect. Pittman emerges as the hero and moral center of the opera which takes on overtones of its World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
political backdrop when Pittman sings — referring to Talmadge, "One Hitler anywhere is one too many".
The cast of characters features only slightly fictionalized versions of many historic characters including not only Talmadge, Cocking, and Pittman, but also Atlanta Journal Constitution editor Ralph McGill
Ralph McGill
Ralph Emerson McGill , American journalist, was best known as the anti-segregationist editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper. He won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1959....
, Georgia Teachers College custodian Mose Bass, and Georgia Southern University alumnus and benefactor Jack Averitt. In Braz’s libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, Averitt is reimagined as the leader of the student movement that resulted in the restoration of Marvin Pittman to his post as university president. In real life, Averitt was a friend of the Pittman family, but did not lead the charge to have the president reinstalled.
Composer
Michael Braz, the composer of A Scholar Under Siege, is Professor of Music at Georgia Southern University. For nine years, he was also the principal keyboardistKeyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
for the Augusta Symphony Orchestra
Augusta Symphony Orchestra
The Augusta Symphony Orchestra, established shortly after World War I, is a nonprofit symphony orchestra in Augusta, Maine. It consists of fifty volunteer amateur and semi-professional musicians and is conducted by Paul Ross. The orchestra's season includes a concert in November, the Messiah Sing...
. His previous compositions include his 1975 chamber opera
Chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
, Memoirs from the Holocaust.
Performance history
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
by Mallory Lanier.
Premiere cast
The principal roles were sung by:- Kyle Hancock (Dr. Marvin Pittman)
- Pedro Carreras (Eugene Talmadge)
- Jarrad Howard (Robert F Wood)
- Stephen Faulk (Jack Averitt)
- Russell Watkins (Ralph McGill)
- John Wolters (Dr. Walter Cocking)
- Jaime White (Anna Mary Terrell Pittman)
- David Poulian (Mose Bass)
The cast also included:
Dan Scofield (Dr. Alois Hundhammer), John Marshall (Jurt Feyer), Megan Otte (Mae Michael), Violet Martin (Maime Veazey), Shawn Tupper (Ernest Cannon), John Bressler (Dr. R. J. H. DeLoach), Cyril Durant (Tommie Banks), Dan Scofield (Sandy Beaver), Japheth Parker (Ormonde Hunter), Mark Diamond (Ellis Arnall), John Marshall (James Peters), Zac Case (Joe Ben Jackson), Sara Teate (Mrs. Sylla Hamilton), Liz Zettler (Hester Newton), Leo Parrish (Dr. Steadman V. Sanford).
Score
The Savannah Morning NewsSavannah Morning News
The Savannah Morning News is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Morris Communications, Inc. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry"...
said that it mirrored Braz’s influences which are cited as Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, and Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
. Jim Galloway in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, described Braz as using "a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
y, flat-noted tune to suggest the rather corrupt insider nature of Georgia’s state politics in the 1940s."
Critical reception
A Scholar Under Siege received considerable media attention probably because it encapsules a race struggle from which the southern United States are still recovering today. In an Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
article about A Scholar Under Siege, Russ Bynum wrote, "Talmadge's defeat proved Georgia voters had limits to how far they would go to defend racial inequality." Braz said in an interview with the Savannah Morning News that political thinkers were noticing his opera because they saw parallels between the administrations of Eugene Talmadge and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. "Most attention to the opera so far has been from political writers who are fascinated with the text more than the music," Braz said. In the same interview, Braz described his opera as "a study of two conflicting views of power. Talmadge aimed to keep people afraid so that they would vote for him. For him, power was in the numbers. For Pittman, power was in education, in the heart and mind."
That his opera would be viewed as a political allegory pointing to the theater of current events was not an outcome that Braz specifically sought, he said in an interview for Eyrie, a Georgia Southern University internal publication, but he conceded that he did hate bullying, adding, "If it’s not stood up to, we’re saying it’s okay."