Meet the Composer

Yosvany Terry

Composer Yosvany Terry and writer Carl Hancock Rux will develop Makandal, an opera based on Rux’s observance of the book "The Kingdom of This World" by Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. The book takes readers from the Haitian revolt in which Makandal was so instrumental, to the rise and fall of King Henri Christophe who, despite being black, reinstated the unjust systems of the French colonizers. In dealing with questions of freedom, oppression, and the dissonance that results from belonging to multiple cultures, Rux and Terry's Makandal promises to create a significant point of connection with the many cultural groups and communities that surround us. Drawing on his classical training, Terry's score will be drawn from musical elements of multiple cultures, traditional and contemporary. Terry will create a score for flexible instrumentation to increase the works' ability to travel and be set on ensembles of varying sizes.

World premiere: March 2011