Echoes of Identity: French Opera and Jewish Life
Thursday, July 24 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
In Collaboration with Canto Vocal Programs
Featuring Maurice Lugassy, professor of French culture and Canto Vocal artists
What can opera tell us about identity, exile, and belonging?
Join Maurice Lugassy for a thought-provoking musical lecture that explores how Jewish stories, composers, and themes found a place on the grand stage of French opera.
From the powerful drama of Halévy’s La Juive, an opera of love, faith, and persecution, to subtle threads of Jewish identity woven into the works of Bizet, Saint-Saëns, and others, this journey uncovers how opera became a space to express both cultural pride and profound struggle.
Blending history, storytelling, and live musical excerpts, this lecture reveals how Jewish life shaped, and was shaped by, the world of French opera. Whether through bold characters, coded messages, or the complex lives of composers, Jewish voices echoed through the opera houses of France — sometimes in harmony, sometimes in conflict.
The presentation will conclude with an open Q&A session. Ages 18+
Fee: $15 Members; $20 Non-members (includes dessert)
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