Pittsburgh Festival Opera recognized for 'A Gathering of Sons'

The Pittsburgh Festival Opera was awarded the bronze world medal for excellence in a production dealing with society and societal issues at the New York Festivals International TV & Film Awards on Tuesday.

The honor was for “A Gathering of Sons,” an original work commissioned by the opera, and was chosen from hundreds of entries from 50 countries, according to a news release.

A gala was held at the Wynn Encore Ballroom in Las Vegas during the National Association of Broadcasters convention, where the opera’s librettist, Dr. Tameka Cage Conley, composer Dwayne Fulton and stage director Mark Clayton Southers, along with Pittsburgh Festival Opera board president Dr. Eugene Myers, accepted the award, it states in the release.

“This is a huge win for Pittsburgh Festival Opera,” Southers said in the release. “A testament to the power of a great story and the beauty of artists being appreciated and rewarded for their hard work and dedication to their craft on the international stage.”

“A Gathering Of Sons” is a 90-minute gospel-infused opera that tells the story of a black family whose son is shot by a rogue white cop.

The opera was born from a wound caused by the untimely death of African American men and boys, yet it rises in hope for the children of this generation as well as the next, Conley said in the release.

The opera was video recorded at its final performance during the 2017 Pittsburgh Festival Opera summer season and then aired on WQED in Pittsburgh in July of 2018.