John Coolidge Adams is an American composer of classical music and opera whose first opera was inspired by U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in what year?
Nixon in China Nixon in China is an opera in three acts by John Adams, with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams' first opera, it was inspired by U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972. The work premiered at the Houston Grand Opera on October 22, 1987, in a production by Peter Sellars with choreography by Mark Morris. When Sellars approached Adams with the idea for the opera in 1985, Adams was initially reluctant, but eventually decided that the work could be a study in how myths come to be, and accepted the project. Goodman's libretto was the result of considerable research into Nixon's visit, though she disregarded most sources published after the 1972 trip.
Jubilee (opera) Jubilee is an opera in three acts composed by Ulysses Kay to a libretto by Donald Dorr. The opera is based on the narrative in Margaret Walker's 1966 novel "Jubilee" which described her biracial grandmother's experiences as a slave and then as a free woman during the Reconstruction Era. It was first performed on 20 November 1976 in Jackson, Mississippi by Opera South who had commissioned the work for the U.S. Bicentennial. The premiere performance was conducted by James DePreist with Hilda Harris as Vyry, the opera's protagonist. "Jubilee" was revived by Opera South in 1977 and then disappeared after Margaret Walker threatened to sue if there were any further performances.