On this edition of Let’s Talkini. With Lalo Vavi, uh, which means love in the language of Tut, uh, and it is, as I said, an Afro-futurist opera that, um, will take us 400 years from now in the land of Atlas, formerly Atlanta. We’ve been given the opportunity to kind of push the the boundaries of what’s possible in opera and then hopefully just the art art world at large. Plus, I think that it’s something that we can have in our lives it can be *** part of our lives forever because no matter what we can always have. Each year we have one event or we have two events or every other year we have an event. I think that there’s so many different ways that we can still do things with Soul Bros to give back to the community, to give back to less fortunate areas, and I think it’s something that we need in 2026. From WLWT, this is the Emmy Award winning show Let’s Talk Siy presented by Western and Southern Financial Group. Put our financial strength behind you. Hello, everyone, I’m Curtis Fuller and welcome to Let’s Talk Sensei. Here’s what’s coming up on the program today. It’s being called groundbreaking Cincinnati Opera’s multi-million dollar black opera project. Three new productions celebrating uplifting stories about the African American community. Tell me about the Black Opera Project that’s coming up and its significance. The Black Opera Project is an initiative that Cincinnati Opera has developed to create three new operas by 33 black creative teams. Uh, the first premiering in 2026 with Lalo Vavi, an Afrofuturist opera, 2027, John Lewis Good Trouble, and 2028, uh, Good Bones. So, uh, we felt it was necessary to, uh, produce operas that tell the black story. In an authentic way, meaning by black creators, meaning black composer, black librettist, conductor, uh, scenic designer, costume design, uh, and I think it’s important for us to be able to share our stories in *** way that relates to us as *** community, but then also expand the, the canon of opera, uh, in general. So we are extremely excited about what’s to come, especially starting this year in 2026 in July with Lalo Vavi, uh, which means love in the language of Tut. Uh, and it is, as I said, an Afro-futurist opera that, um, will take us 400 years from now in the land of Atlas, formerly Atlanta. So it’s very futuristic, very adventuresome, uh, and I think *** true sense of, uh, storytelling that provides joy. Well, I mean, it, it really came from an authentic source, uh. Uh, Morris Robinson and some other, uh, singers who were performing in Porgy and Bess asked the question, they posed the question to us, why can’t we do stories that are not downtrodden traumatic stories for the black community? And at the time, Porgy and Bess was really the only opera out there for uh multiple black performers and singers to, to do. So we really got together and talked about this and just en envisioned. Something that’s equivalent to the impact of Black Panther for movies, why couldn’t we do something that was the same equivalency for opera? Uh, and so this is, and, and, and fortunately the Cincinnati Opera team heard what we were saying, uh, and committed to it. OK, so my name is Morris Robinson, um. I’m *** bass. Probably could have guessed that. Um, yeah, really. I us Oh. start You’ve told me the story of how you became an opera singer. Tell, tell that story again because it’s, it’s always fascinating. So I went to high school of Performing Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, and uh. You know, the, the irony of the story is I was in the marching band and I went to the first football game and realized I didn’t want to be in the marching band. I don’t want to be on the football field. So in order to be at that school and remain at that school, I had to take two periods of performing arts. So I quit the band and joined the chorus, so I played football and, and that’s been my life story. My, uh, my junior year we did Mozart’s Requiem, and I got the bass solos for that. My senior year we did the Robert Shaw edition of the Haydn’s Creation. I got the bass solos for that, so I was *** pretty decent singer in high school, but, uh, after high school I didn’t want to go and major in music. Um, in fact, I could have come to Cincinnati Conservatory, but I wanted to go and. Hit people without going to jail. So I was able to do that for *** few years. I, I went and played football in college. I, I had *** wonderful career at the Citadel playing football in college. And then I graduated and went right into corporate America. And, uh, that’s when I was *** fish out of water. I wasn’t doing anything musical except for singing at my teammates’ weddings. You know, it’s, it’s wonderful when you find out what you’ve been put on earth to do, I think. And I think that, you know, you can’t write my story and make it happen. You can’t plan that story and make it happen. All things have to be pre-aligned or lined up in place, and that’s what happened with me because, you know, opera found me, I found opera, and it’s been like, you know, the marrying of two worlds that were meant to be together. So, very blessed and, uh, yeah, I’m, I’ve sing all over the world. Hey. And Mm and And funders, talk about finally your funders for this. Sure, sure. With the funders it wouldn’t have happened. We absolutely wouldn’t. So we have, we do have some key funders. It is *** huge initiative. We’re not quite there yet, but we have some major funders, for example, Procter and Gamble, um. Anne and Harry Santon were our initial funders, but we’re also looking at, uh, engaging the community and what we can do as *** community to help support this project, to help us bring us over the, you know, over the hump to make this happen. This is *** 3-year initiative, uh, I, I like to call them Fubu OPAs, you know. And the first one is when the first one is Lalavabi and it premieres July 9th in Music Hall. I think we’re, we’ve been given the opportunity to kind of push the, the boundaries of what’s possible in opera and then hopefully just the art, art world at large, um, we, this is an Afrofuturistic opera which to our knowledge has never been done before, um, and we talk as writers and creatives about the lack of. Positive, uh, portrayals of us in the, in, in the black community and so we’re really excited about this opportunity to we’ve created this fantastical world that. And it really puts us in *** in this position of just power but we’re also talking about like the the power of love and that’s that’s really the part that um I feel like is the most like the heart of the project. So it’s, it’s incredible that we have the opportunity to again to do this thing that’s never been done, but I think it’s, it’s more important that the, the message that we’re trying to, you know, put across in the, in the show is one that we feel any person could connect to. OK, so straight up to it, OK. know. Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, I mean this is, this is *** revolutionary project it’s, it’s an innovative one and it’s one that, um, I, I think will truly have *** lasting impact. I mean as *** composer to write an opera is like is like one of those parts of *** composition career that normally doesn’t happen until much later in life or at least, um, it may not happen, right? And so in my case I’m writing this opera. Uh, being 28 and I’m, you know, very excited, uh, uh, but also like, you know, I feel the weight of this moment and I feel that, um, we’re on the brink of something really amazing and so that’s what’s been, uh, giving me lots of motivation and momentum as we’re trying to put this whole thing together. Well, my first thing is we have to get it all written first, you know, um, and they are Kevin has the hardest job because he has to write the whole thing, um. Being the first, I mean, it’ll also be my first conducting experience too, so I, the pressure is on, um, heavier than it ever has been in any of my roles. Normally I’m *** pianist and I do help in the creative process, but I only play the score and make sure the singers are singing the right note. Now I have to deal with, you know, instruments, the orchestra, the chorus, the soloists, um, and just make sure that. Everything that they’ve envisioned is actually coming to play above and you know above and below, um, so that the audience receives what he envisioned in his mind so. Yeah, I mean, what’s, what’s wonderful is I love the boldness that, that, that comes with this initiative. It’s, it’s really. Something that has not been done before in the opera realm and you don’t see other companies really doing what Cincinnati has done in *** very overt way which I love and and so yeah it’s *** it’s *** big thing to be part of and I had *** piece on that program. And Morris Robinson was brought in as *** guest artist, uh, to sing with the orchestra and so he heard *** piece of mine and then *** few days later, um, I got an Instagram direct message from him, uh, *** voice message with his very deep profound voice that I love and so he reached out to me and was like, hey, I work with Cincinnati. I would love to bring you on, uh, for this project and so that’s how I, you know, I was able to get to Fara and we were able to really. Um, you know, begin this whole, um, conversation of like what, what could this look like, what, what could this like, what could this be, and so, um, yeah, so Cincinnati Opera has been *** big part of that and has, and has helped us to realize *** dream that, um, that we get to now showcase to the public and so I think, um, there’s lots of excitement for this, and there’s lots of people who are very excited to see this dream come to reality. I think um people who might not know much about opera might think that it’s uh *** certain style of music that feel like might not be uh entertaining or captivating for them um but I think that our incredible composer Kevin Day has has been crafting music that. Is very melodic and um uh full of earworms that you wanna keep hearing over and over again and lend themselves perfectly to our classical singers and um in terms of the story seeing um black kings queens powerful people in *** um in *** futuristic world I think is something that would be very exciting and appealing to. Opera lovers but also new people to opera who are interested in perhaps more sensational stories than you know your um. Standard love stories or you know um adaptations of Shakespeare or things of that nature that might not be appealing to certain people this is something that has um *** reach into different new audiences who like maybe they like Star Wars maybe they like Battlestar. Galactica maybe they’re into graphic novels and they or you know, or even if you’re into stories of adventure or stories of people falling in love or um coming of age, there’s there’s aspects of of the story that can appeal to many different interests. So I’m the director and the dramatur for the piece. Um, I started out, um, pursuing *** career in theater as an actor and then and film, um, and shifted into directing. I fell in love with being *** Bigger part of the storytelling and world building and so firstly I was in more of the theater world um in primarily in New York City um with some traveling assisting and directing along the way and um I would say like. Five years ago or so, uh, I fell into opera. Opera chose me basically. Um, I was asked to assist on Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, and that was really *** big, uh, transition for me into the opera world, and I started to direct opera, um, around the country. Amazing how life comes around full circle because I have my grandmother and my mother actually are both English teachers. And my grandmother grew up in the segregated schools of um Southern Texas and she learned she was classically trained in those schools she sang opera and she spoke French and um you know she I I learned all of these things from my mother she passed before I was born but I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to do this and connect myself to her specifically through opera. And it’s just it’s something that I it it blows me away just to think about, you know, especially because I’ve only known her through stories and just to to know that I have *** legacy that I was given. By her that I can carry forward you know this is, it’s um it’s, it’s mind blowing and uh and I don’t take that I don’t take that for granted and the the process of moving from poetry into opera, there are some things that translate, but there are there are other skills that I had to learn specific to opera that I couldn’t. Necessarily lean on my my poetry and performance experience to do that. I had to do *** lot of research. I had to read opera librettos. Uh, I had to watch them on YouTube of the Cincinnati Opera has given us opportunities to see. Live shows and I had to bring all of those things together and lean on, you know, the knowledge of my creative team, um, and the opera, you know, just to, to make sure that I was being true to what traditional opera lovers love, you know, the, the elements of opera that that are unchanging but then also still have the courage to push forward and do something completely different. Up next, we are Soul Bros. We first introduced these 4 young men to you when they were only in 8th grade. Their name Soul Bros comes from their amazing effort to distribute pairs of shoes everywhere from the West End of Cincinnati to Jamaica and Haiti. I think that it’s something that we can have in our lives. It can be *** part of our lives forever because no matter what we can always have. Each year we have one event or we have 2 events or every other year we have an event. I think that there’s so many different ways that we can still do things with Soul Bros to give back to the community, to get back to less fortunate areas, and I think it’s something that we need. Tell people if they don’t know what Soul Bros. Is because it’s technically it’s technically still exists, yeah, yeah, so Soul Bros, we started it in 2015 on the premise of every kid deserves *** pair of fresh shoes that gives them that confidence and. The belief that they can do anything and conquer the day and there were three of us. It was me, my best friend Curtis, and my best friend Kellen, and we attended *** fundraiser hosted by Dhani Jones back in 2014, 2015, and former Bengal, yeah, former Bengal, big philanthropist in the area, great businessman, great mentor for me and all of us throughout all of our lives, and we went to that. Event and on the way to that event my mom was driving us and we were talking about all the latest Nikes and Jordans and Adidas and my mom was like I don’t even know why you’re thinking about those shoes and we’re like why man come on they’re cool shoes need them for basketball they’re not too expensive she’s like well have you ever thought about the fact that there are some kids that have no shoes and. We all kinda sat there in silence for *** little bit and then my friend Curtis, who he’s we call him the sneakerhead, he especially felt that and he said wow, well I have so many shoes, Ms. Jackie is there anything that I can do with those shoes? and then I was like you’re right, I have some basketball shoes that I didn’t finish wearing some baseball shoes and all that stuff and we went to that event that was hosted by Dahani Jones told some people. Our idea and *** lot of those people gave us some great feedback, some great ideas and *** lot of support and from there we just took off. Were you amazed at how it boomed? Yeah, absolutely, we didn’t expect it to be anything crazy. We thought it would maybe be *** one year thing like that one year we would raise some money, raise some shoes, go to Jamaica with the organization that we had partnered with and. That would be that and then after the first year we got more support, uh, we ended up getting on the Kelly Clarkson show in 2019 and then we also gave *** TED Talk in 2019 as well and yeah it just it took off to heights that we had never expected because there ultimately became more than. Just the uh the trio then it expanded to about 5 people total, so I think that was in about 2018, 2019 we had Breland Anderson and Jonah Karshnik, two of our best friends and greatest supporters. They were always around and we were like, man, you guys deserve some credit as well. You guys should be *** part of this. And so we added them in and we went to Jamaica again in 2019 and we had 5 people there with us. The long term, do you see this being something that you will do as *** group or creating some kind of organization beyond just the soul bro title, uh, long term? I think that’s something that we can have in our lives. It can be *** part of our lives forever because no matter what we can always have. Each year we have one event or we have two events or every other year we have an event. I think that there’s so many different ways that we can still do things with Soul Bros to give back to the community, to get back to less fortunate areas, and I think it’s something that we need in 2026. So I think that’s something that we’ll always keep close to us and, and do every now and then when we can because you still have, uh, shoes. In the warehouse, yeah, we still have shoes in storage that we’ve cleaned and we’ve gone through and sorted them all by size and gender and all that stuff and yeah it’s just every year, every now and then somebody will give us *** call and say hey we need some shoes and we’re like all right we’ll give you some uh Jonah actually gave away some shoes also this past year at Madison to some of the local kids in the district as athletic director so yeah just every now and then we’ll just have somebody go by, check our storage and take some shoes out this summer. Because the, the whole concept of sneakerhead concept that’s still very much, very much so and and it’s something that it’s unfortunate sometimes kids they don’t receive the best treatment when they don’t have the best shoes on if they’re not considered cool shoes or something so that’s something that we don’t want kids to ever feel or go through and that’s why we give them the new shoes, you have to sum up the, the whole soul bro, uh, story. Um, what, what would you want people to really take away from that now 10+ years after? Yeah, I would say that first off you’re never too young to make *** change, that’s for sure. You can make *** change whenever you want to, whenever you have an idea if you think that that can make *** change, do it because it will. Number 2, I would say that sometimes you feel like you can’t. Make *** change on your own, it just takes *** dream and *** friend, and those were, that’s what Kellen and Curtis was. That’s what I was, and Kellen was to Curtis’s dream of giving his shoes away. Sometimes it just takes *** dream and *** friend. And third, uh, just that we would hope that we inspired people to believe those first two messages and to continue to believe in yourself and inspire the next generation. Well, that does it for the program today. Thanks for tuning in. I’m Curtis Fuller. I’ll see you next time for another edition of Let’s Talk Sensei. Until then, have *** good day and *** better day tomorrow.

Let’s Talk Cincy: A conversation with the creators behind Black Opera

Updated: 12:01 PM EDT Jul 3, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

We speak with the creators behind Cincinnati Opera’s Black Opera Project, an innovative three-opera development initiative that showcases the Black American experience.

We speak with the creators behind Cincinnati Opera’s Black Opera Project, an innovative three-opera development initiative that showcases the Black American experience.