Grant funds awarded in support of upcoming production centered on racial injustice 

Media Contact: Mariah Forde, mforde@neworleansopera.org, 240-506-7789 
Date: May, 24, 2023

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Opera Association (NOOA) has been approved for a $25,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the southern premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue. New Orleans Opera Association’s production of Blue is among 1,130 projects across the country, totaling more than $31 million, that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2023 funding.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support a wide range of projects, including New Orleans Opera Association’s production of Blue, demonstrating the many ways the arts enrich our lives and contribute to healthy and thriving communities,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “These organizations play an important role in advancing the creative vitality of our nation and helping to ensure that all people can benefit from arts, culture, and design.”

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the National Endowment for the Arts for their generous support of our November production of Blue,” says General and Artistic Director Clare Burovac. “The NEA’s commitment to fostering artistic excellence and promoting cultural enrichment has played a pivotal role in identifying great American opera, and we are truly honored by their invaluable contribution.”

Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and NAACP Theatre Award-winning librettist Tazewell Thompson’s Blue is centered on the hopes and fears of a young Black couple as they raise a son in Harlem. In this story of love and loss, audiences will see the mother and the father, a police officer, supported by a loving community of fellow law enforcement, churchgoers, and friends as they respond to the killing of their son at the hands of a white police officer. New Orleans Opera Association’s production of Blue can be seen at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans on November 10 and 12, 2023.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
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