What is ‘ethnically-led’ Wagner?

You are about to find out.

From the press release:
…Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer) comes to The Bradshaw Hall at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire this July.

In what is believed to be the UK’s first ethnically-led Wagner production, The Flying Dutchman is presented by Persona Arts, with music direction from international baritone Byron Jackson and stage direction by Iqbal Khan …

A professional cast with heritage from across the Commonwealth is joined by a skilled community chorus, drawn from the West Midlands region, including the Birmingham Choral Union, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and St Mary’s Church, Handsworth. Music comes from the Central England Camerata, under the baton of Jack Ridley.

Main character parts are performed by Anando Mukerjee, Mari Wyn Williams, Laura Woods, Christian Joel and Gerrit Paul Groen, with Byron Jackson taking the role of The Dutchman….

The production is part of Byron Jackson’s mission to break down racial barriers that still exist within the opera and classical music sectors. The community chorus and orchestra are drawn from across Birmingham and the Black Country, and into rural areas of Shropshire and Worcestershire….

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