How I Got Over: Rising Opera Star Ryan Speedo Green
Ryan Speedo Green
Overview
At twelve years old, Ryan Speedo Green was placed in solitary confinement in Virginia’s juvenile facility of last resort. At twenty-four, he won America’s most prestigious contest for young opera singers, beating 1,200 other singing hopefuls, and this fall he will make his starring debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Puccini’s La Bohème.
Join us for an evening of conversation with Green and Daniel Bergner, author of Sing for Your Life: A Story of Race, Music, and Family, to examine one man’s unlikely journey from solitary to stardom, a journey that sheds light on the realities of race in America. Hosted by WNYC producer of special projects on race Rebecca Carroll.
**Please Note: Due to artist illness, this event has been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience. All ticket holders will be reimbursed.
About the Speakers
Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, a native of Suffolk, Virginia, won the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions in 2011 at the age of 24, beating out 1,200 other talented singers. He is an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera, where he has performed as Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, the King of Egypt in Aida, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and Varlaam in Boris Godunov. In the fall of 2016 Ryan will appear at the Met as Colline in the iconic Zeffirelli production of La Bohème.In 2014 at the Met he sang the role of Rambo in The Death of Klinghoffer.
Daniel Bergner is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and the author of four previous books of nonfiction: What Do Women Want?, The Other Side of Desire, In the Land of Magic Soldiers, and God of the Rodeo.
How I Got Over
This event is part of new project reinventing language around race through a series of conversations and performances that explore, express and examine what it means when a social construct becomes the social order. We want people to get personal. We want provocative dialogue. We want to generate new language to execute real change. We want to talk about fear – and how it’s different if you are black or white. We want to hear people explore racism.