Fierce the Opera
Fierce, made its Iowa premiere April 2024 at the Hancher Auditorium
PRESENTED BY HANCHER, PERFORMING ARTS PRODUCTION UNIT, AND UI SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Hailed as “a one-act operatic gem” (All About the Arts)
Learn more on the Hancher Auditorium website.
Fierce, an opera by librettist Sheila Williams and composer William Menefield made its world premiere at the Cincinnati Opera July 2022.
JULY 6 & 10, 2022 | 7:30 P.M.
JULY 9, 2022 | 3:00 P.M.
SCPA’S CORBETT THEATER
Fierce tells stories inspired by the lives of the Cincinnati-area teenage girls who helped create it. Composer William Menefield and novelist Sheila Williams join forces to present this new work in collaboration with community partners WordPlay Cincy, The Music Resource Center—Cincinnati (MRC), and i.imagine.
Read the synopsis & view the gallery on the Cincinnati Opera website.
FIERCE News & Press
The creators behind FIERCE – composer William Menefield and librettist Sheila Williams – are featured on the cover of the Movers & Makers Cincinnati June 2022 issue! In the article, Menefield and Williams describe their journey with FIERCE despite setbacks, and how they were ultimately able to craft this heartwarming story about empowered young women.
ALL ABOUT THE ARTS
Fierce at the Cincinnati Opera
Rafael de Acha from All About the Arts calls FIERCE “a one-act operatic gem”, “a welcome addition to the lyric stage of today”, and “a compelling new work that brings real-life stories to the operatic stage and another feather in the Cincinnati Opera’s cap”.
Novelist Sheila Williams on Telling Black Women’s Stories and Creating an Opera for Cincinnati
Interview and written by Rita DiBello
What does it mean to be fierce? “To be tenacious and strong and focused.” For Sheila, the young women who inspired Fierce were that and are that, and “they are the heart and soul of Fierce.”
Cincinnati Edition
Cincinnati Opera’s Summer Festival is back with a ‘Fierce’ new performance
Joining Cincinnati Edition‘s host Lucy May to discuss the production ‘Fierce’ are Composer William Menefield; Librettist Sheila Williams; and Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati Producing Artistic Director and Fierce Stage Director D. Lynn Meyers.
Creators of new opera about teenage pressures talk about its development
Image: Cincinnati Business Courier
Cincinnati Opera’s ‘Fierce’ and ‘Castor and Patience’ Give Voice to Underrepresented Stories
Fierce presents stories of teenaged girls channeling their artistry through a vortex of challenges, both personal and social.
Williams spent more than a year in conversations with young women convened by the Music Resource Center in Walnut Hills and WordPlay Cincy, a Northside nonprofit that fosters children’s and teens’ creativity through writing and arts integration.
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN
Cincinnati Opera Stages Vibrant and Heartfelt New Opera, “Fierce”
“…opera is a medium; it is one of many expressive ways to tell a vibrant, dramatic, and heartfelt story – something composer William Menefield and librettist Sheila Williams do magnificently in their new opera, Fierce.
Cincinnati Magazine
THE OPERA RETURNS TO CINCINNATI
After two years in limbo, Cincinnati Opera returns, celebrating its past and shaping its future.
Author Sheila Williams joins Elaine Diehl to talk about seeing her words turned into a film, as well as her upcoming project with the Cincinnati Opera.