Composed by Paula M. Kimper, with a libretto by Talaya Delaney, projections rendered by Amy Johnquest and staging by Linda McInerney, TRUTH illuminates the life and legacy of this complicated, brilliant woman who, though illiterate, was a relentless and articulate champion of those deprived of justice and freedom. The score is accessible and down-to-earth, much of the music derived from folk themes and spirituals, and many of the words Sojourner’s own. Sojourner Truth is an African-American heroine of extraordinary scope whose life story will be an inspiration to many. She lived a life of bravery in the face of unfathomable adversity and never wavered in her faith and hope for a world where all would experience the birthright of freedom. A former slave who became an influential Abolitionist, Truth advocated nonviolence to Frederick Douglass and other leaders even as the Civil War overtook them. Her little known story, filled with astonishing events and accomplishments, is for the first time told in a new American opera, commissioned by Old Deerfield Productions. “Over 160 years later, Sojourner’s ideals of justice and equality are still inspiring, and it was absolutely thrilling to hear those ideas expressed in such beautiful music. At the end of the opera, I leapt to my feet to cheer and so did everyone else in the building!” – Martha Richards, Founder, Women Arts "Kimper's music has a rare combination of apparent simplicity and great sophistication, subtlety, and nuance. The recitation of the battles followed by the Be My Mother had me in tears." -- Conrad Cummings, opera composer BIOS OF THE CREATORS: Paula Kimper, Composer, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, has been active in New York City for over 30 years as a composer of opera, theater, dance, film and song. Her complete catalog of scores was recently acquired by the Loeb Music Library of Harvard University. Kimper’s fourth opera TRUTH, An American Opera about Sojourner Truth, with a libretto by Talaya Delaney, was commissioned by Old Deerfield Productions and premiered in February 2012 at the Academy of Music in Northampton, MA. A chamber version conducted by the composer is now on tour. Her other operas, Patience & Sarah (1998), The Captivation of Eunice Williams (2004), and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2007), have been produced internationally. Her song "Here is a Place" was commissioned by Opera America for the Opera America Songbook to commemorate the opening of the National Opera Center in New York City. She has received commissions from American Opera Projects, The Phoenix Concerts, Old Deerfield Productions, Amy Pivar Dances, Richard Daniels, Downtown Music Productions, The Walt Whitman Project, Opera America, and others. She is grateful for the generous support of American Music Center, International Music and Art Foundation, Lincoln Center Festival, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Meet the Composer and Theatre Communications Group. Talaya Delaney, Librettist, earned her PhD from Harvard University in American Studies and her M.A. from Harvard in History. She also has an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU/Tisch. Scholarly interests include how history and ideas of history are investigated through drama. Talaya is also a playwright. Her plays have been read, workshopped and produced in the United States, Ireland, and Germany. She has received grants to support her work from the Humboldt Foundation and the Javits Foundation, and has been a resident artist at the MacDowell Colony and at Yaddo. Linda McInerney, Producer, Director, Set Designer, is the founder and Artistic Director of Old Deerfield Productions, the commissioning organization of TRUTH. She is a graduate of Middlebury College with a double major in Theater and French, and was a student at the National Shakespeare Company Conservatory. She has been a member of Actors Equity since 1983 and has worked for over thirty years as an actor, singer, director and producer in New York and throughout New England, with credits including Circle Repertory Company and ABC’s All My Children. She earned an MFA in Directing from UMass Amherst and as Artistic Director of ODP her credits include The Glass Menagerie, The Belle of Amherst, Blithe Spirit, Sealskin, John Brown’s Body, Women of the Valley, Roshomon, The Miser, Pride’s Crossing, Plainsong, Molly Sweeney, She Stoops to Conquer, W;t, Waiting for Godot, The Cure at Troy by Seamus Heaney, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Importance of Being Earnest, Don Juan, Doubt, and The Madwoman of Chaillot. She commissioned The Captivation of Eunice Williams, with libretto by Harley Erdman, which has been seen in Deerfield, MA, Cooperstown, NY, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and was performed at the Ochrid Festival in Bitola, Macedonia. Ms. McInerney teaches at Eaglebrook School and lives in Deerfield with her husband, Chris. They have two sons, Mark and Matt.