Cubanacán is the first new Cuban opera to be created and produced in over fifty years. A fully staged production opened the 2015 Havana Bienal on May 21, 2015, performed on three evenings by an all-Cuban cast and orchestra.

As Michael Cooper wrote in the New York Times (May 20, 2015), Cubanacán, “combines Cuban rhythms and lyric, operatic passages with modern edges.”

The story was inspired by actual events surrounding the founding of the national art schools of Cuba, as commissioned by Fidel Castro during a round of golf.

A workshop with renown theatre and opera director Robert Wilson to be held this coming July 29-August 2 at Wilson’s Watermill Center will bring together a team of international creative collaborators, along with producer/librettist Charles Koppelman, to revise the work and prepare it for international showcasing.

About the Watermill Center

The goal of the workshop is to lift the opera up to the next creative level in terms of story, character, and narrative arc. After the workshop the producers will return to the opera companies which expressed interest: La Fenice in Venice, the National Opera in Mexico City, and the San Francisco Opera.

A short video about the opera

All contributors will receive a copy of the Project Book at the conclusion of the workshop in August.

All contributions are fully tax-deductible. Because Projects is a 501c(3) charitable organization.