Eric Hayslett's Interview with Marcus Shelby

Currently, Shelby is the Artistic Director of Healdsburg Jazz, an artist in residence with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and a past resident artist with the San Francisco Jazz Festival and the Healdsburg Jazz Festival. Shelby has composed several oratorios and suites including “Harriet Tubman”, “Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio”, “Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”, “Black Ball: The Negro Leagues and the Blues”, “Green and Blues”, and a children’s opera “Harriet’s Spirit” produced by Opera Parallel 2018. Shelby also composed the score and performed in Anna Deavere Smith’s Off-Broadway Play and HBO feature film “Notes from the Field” (2019). Shelby is also the voice of Ray Gardener in the 2020 Oscar-Winning Disney Pixar film “SOUL”.
We discuss his latest project: a new opera by Marcus Shelby about Harriet Tubman (Tiffany Austin) premiering at the Bayview Opera House on Nov. 13th and 14th, 2021.
Opera Parallèle & Bayview Opera House present: Harriet's Spirit
A young girl’s story of courage and empowerment, inspired by Harriet Tubman.
Music by Marcus Shelby
Libretto by Roma Olvera
Conducted by Nicole Paiement
Directed by L. Peter Callender
Featuring: Tiffany Austin, Christabel Nunoo, Bradley Kynard and the San Francisco Girls Chorus