| Numinous The Music of Joseph C. Phillips Jr. |
About The Operas of 1619 CYCLE
The past is still present.
The 1619 cycle is a collection of eight, one to two-and-a-half-hour operas, whose concept and music are by composer Joseph C Phillips Jr. Each opera is self-contained, however, together they form a cycle that connects stories reflecting several consistent themes throughout the entire sweep of United States history. Illuminating the predacity of American life, but also highlighting the human stories of joy, love, and resistance in the face of that oppression, the 1619 opera cycle is a unique work. While initially inspired by both the 2014 The Atlantic article “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates and by the 2019 New York Times The 1619 Project—in particular the Project’s goal “to reframe American history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as our nation’s birth year...[placing] the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country” 1—the cycle broadens those first inspirations beyond black and white to reckon with historical themes through nuance and context in specific time periods between 1619 and now, and onward into the future. One of the goals for the cycle is, as writer Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz expressed, “[h]ow might acknowledging the reality of US history work to transform society.” 2
The initial story treatments for the libretto to opera #1, So Far Behind Now Because of Then, was partly funded through a grant from the Puffin Foundation in 2021. For the 2023-2024 academic year, Joseph C Phillips Jr was a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University in which he did historical research for the 1619 opera cycle through discussions with various historians at museums and institutions in the United States and internationally; he began writing the libretto for opera #2, Till Paths Be Wrought Through Wilds, during the Fellowship. Joseph C Phillips Jr was also awarded a 2024 MAP Fund grant to help with the eventual production of Till Paths Be Wrought Through Wilds.
In addition to the operas of the 1619 cycle, there are a series of accompanying orchestral, chamber, choral, and other non-opera compositions that also amplify and expand on the themes found in the opera cycle. The first two of these works are commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra: We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, a four-movement orchestral work, of which the first two movements will premiere in March 2026 at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and a smaller youth orchestra version of the first movement, The Great Silence, will premiere in 2025. Both compositions will be published by Boosey and Hawkes.
The initial story treatments for the libretto to opera #1, So Far Behind Now Because of Then, was partly funded through a grant from the Puffin Foundation in 2021. For the 2023-2024 academic year, Joseph C Phillips Jr was a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University in which he did historical research for the 1619 opera cycle through discussions with various historians at museums and institutions in the United States and internationally; he began writing the libretto for opera #2, Till Paths Be Wrought Through Wilds, during the Fellowship. Joseph C Phillips Jr was also awarded a 2024 MAP Fund grant to help with the eventual production of Till Paths Be Wrought Through Wilds.
In addition to the operas of the 1619 cycle, there are a series of accompanying orchestral, chamber, choral, and other non-opera compositions that also amplify and expand on the themes found in the opera cycle. The first two of these works are commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra: We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident, a four-movement orchestral work, of which the first two movements will premiere in March 2026 at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and a smaller youth orchestra version of the first movement, The Great Silence, will premiere in 2025. Both compositions will be published by Boosey and Hawkes.
NOTES:
1. Jake Silverstein, “Why We Published the 1619 Project.” The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html. Accessed December 21, 2019.
2. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Beacon Press, 2014, p 2.
1. Jake Silverstein, “Why We Published the 1619 Project.” The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/magazine/1619-intro.html. Accessed December 21, 2019.
2. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Beacon Press, 2014, p 2.
1619 Opera #1:
So Far Behind Now Because of Then
1619 Opera #2:
Till Paths Be Wrought Through Wilds
1619 Opera #3:
Title TBD
1619 Opera #4:
Title TBD
1619 Opera #5-8:
Titles TBD
Other compositions for 1619 opera cycle
Splash page 📸: Mapamundi de Domingos Teixeira, Old Portuguese ship route map (1573)
Header 📸: Portugal, Columbus map (c.1493)
Thanks and credit to all the original photos on this website to: David Andrako, Concrete Temple Theatre, Marcy Begian, Mark Elzey, Ed Lefkowicz, Donald Martinez, Kimberly McCollum, Geoff Ogle, Joseph C. Phillips Jr., Daniel Wolf-courtesy of Roulette, Andrew Robertson, Viscena Photography, Jennifer Kang, Carolyn Wolf, Mark Elzey, Karen Wise, Numinosito. The Numinous Changing Same album design artwork by DM Stith. The Numinous The Grey Land album design and artwork by Brock Lefferts. Contact for photo credit and information on specific images.