Gambit: Musical Louisiana Concert Highlights Works of Underrecognized Creole Composers

“New Orleans has an important history in classical music in North America. In 1796, it was the first city in what is now the United States on record to stage opera, and the French Opera House, at Bourbon and Toulouse streets, helped make New Orleans a capital for classical music in 19th century America. . . But many of those musicians, particularly Creole composers and people of African descent, have been overlooked by history. In their days, musicians of color like Dédé—who wrote the earliest known full opera by a Black American—and Charles Lucien Lambert often had to leave the city or country for better opportunities. And their works have been lost to time.”