Playwright Gives Fictional Voice to Sally Hemings

CONTACT: Sandra Seaton, (517) 332-6446

CMU PLAYWRIGHT GIVES FICTIONAL VOICE TO SALLY HEMINGS

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- What would letters written by Sally Hemings reveal about her role as slave and mistress to Thomas Jefferson?

There are no such letters. However, Central Michigan University professor and playwright Sandra Seaton will debut the imaginary voice she has given Hemings before a national audience at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The world premier of a new song cycle by William Bolcom with text by Seaton and complemented by mezzo soprano Florence Quivar will be performed March 16.

Seaton's text presents a portrait of Hemings as a complicated and vibrant soul who refuses to be identified solely as Jefferson's mistress.

"Of course, historians have not discovered any diary by Sally Hemings," said Seaton, who teaches playwriting, fiction writing and African-American literature at CMU. "I created the diary entries from my imagination; it's entirely fictional."

The performance will have the feel of a mini opera for one voice, with the story unfolding in a series of vignettes expressed through 18 songs. Bolcom, a Pulitzer Prize-winning musician, set Seaton's words to music.

Bolcom is the Ross Lee Finney Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of Michigan.

Quivar, who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and recently with the Philadelphia Philharmonic, approached him about designing a musical piece based on Hemings, Seaton said.

"Bill, knowing my background and having seen some of my plays, asked me to write the text," she said.

Seaton said she devoted a year to research on the Hemings-Jefferson relationship and on all aspects of life during the Jeffersonian era before beginning to write.

She and Bolcom collaborated on the project for 18 months, splitting their time between East Lansing, Mich., where she lives, and Ann Arbor, Mich. They presented the final work to Quivar in November.

The cycle was commissioned by Music Accord Inc., a consortium of U.S. concert presenters such as the Library of Congress, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and San Francisco Performances.

It will be presented at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco and later at other venues throughout the United States.

Tickets for the production are available through Ticketmaster outlets.

CMU PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT:

Nikita Murray, (517) 774-3197E-mail: [email protected]