Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford | Mischief in the Archives
Jan
27
to May 12

Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford | Mischief in the Archives

Explore a personal journey to uncover family history, challenge preconceived narratives, and restore dignity to those the archives have long muted. More here.

Opera singer Peter Brathwaite is a visiting artist at the University of Oxford, developing a performance project with the Humanities Cultural Programme, supported by the Bodleian Centre for the Study of the Book and the Humanities Cultural Programme/TORCH, and in partnership with the Bodleian Libraries project ‘We Are Our History’: Towards Racial Equity.

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New Opera Days Ostrava 2024 | The Little Lives
Jun
30

New Opera Days Ostrava 2024 | The Little Lives

Peter revives the role of Paul in the Czech premiere of Ann Cleare’s The Little Lives at New Opera Days Ostrava.

In a Scottish town there is a small pleasant garden. From sunrise to sunset it is unlocked and available as a quiet place for contemplation. One morning four people come to the garden – a local elderly woman, Sarah, a young Englishman on holiday, Paul, and an Irish-German tourist couple, Andrea and Thomas. A strange man, Parkwächter, who is also in the park, locks them in the garden without giving a clear reason why, leading them to make their own assumptions. Tensions rise and truths, pains and desires surface. The work explores the impact of powerful propaganda at a domestic and national level, the tensions between gender and gender roles, the underlying stability of human needs and comfort, the frustrations of young people in the UK, and the progressive and regressive roles of national identity.

The Little Lives

Opera for five singers and chamber ensemble, 2020–22

Music: Ann Cleare

Libretto: A.L. Kennedy

Conductor: Bruno Ferrandis

Stage design: David Bazika

Costume design: Marta Roszkopfová

Director: Jiří Nekvasil

Performers:

Christopher Robson, countertenor (Parkwächter)

Peyee Chen, soprano (Andrea)

Peter Brathwaite, baritone (Paul)

Truike van der Poel, mezzo-soprano (Sarah)

John Pumphrey, tenor (Thomas)

Ostravská banda

Czech premiere, 90’

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La Monnaie De Munt
Sep
17
to Nov 6

La Monnaie De Munt

Peter returns to the federal opera house of Belgium reprise the role of Joey in Kris Defoort’s The Time of Our Singing.

An opera by Kris Defoort
Libretto by Peter van Kraaij
Based on the novel by Richard Powers
Premiere La Monnaie 14.9.2021

Conductor KWAMÉ RYAN

Director TED HUFFMAN

Set design JOHANNES SCHÜTZ

Costumes ASTRID KLEIN

Lighting BERND PURKRABEK

Video PIERRE MARTIN

Choreography ALAN BARNES

Dramaturgy PETER VAN KRAAIJ & ANTONIO CUENCA RUIZ

Sound VINCENT DE BAST

Delia Daley CLARON MCFADDEN

William Daley MARK S. DOSS

David Strom SIMON BAILEY

Jonah LEVY SEKGAPANE

Joey PETER BRATHWAITE

Ruth ABIGAIL ABRAHAM

Lisette Soer LILLY JØRSTAD

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Bodleian Libraries
Nov
10

Bodleian Libraries

Black lives in the archives: Peter Brathwaite with Professor Farah Karim-Cooper

Hear about research into centuries of family history in the UK and Barbados, and the inspiration and scholarship behind Peter Brathwaite’s stunning photographic project, Rediscovering Black Portraiture. Brathwaite is currently a visiting artist developing a project with the Humanities Cultural Programme, supported by the Bodleian Centre for the Study of the Book and the Humanities Cultural Programme/TORCH, and in partnership with the Bodleian Libraries project ‘We Are Our History’: Towards Racial Equity. More here.

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The Idler Festival
Jul
9

The Idler Festival

A book tour event to mark the publication of Rediscovering Black Portraiture by Peter Brathwaite. A talk on paintings, music, and rediscovering the tradition of Black portraiture in Western art. More details here.

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Referentiality: Towards a Decentred Future
Jun
26

Referentiality: Towards a Decentred Future

The acclaimed baritone Peter Brathwaite expands on his pivotal Rediscovering Black Portraiture series and the vital new work-in-progress Insurrection: A Work In Progress, which explores the history of resistance in Barbados through the tradition of opera and Peter’s personal story. Taking its cue from the radical folk traditions of enslaved Black workers, this new performance piece celebrates the human need to gather, move, make music, and tell stories amid and in response to oppression. Peter will be in conversation with renowned British dance artist and former Chief Executive of The Place, Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp CBE. More here.

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Leeds Lieder Festival
Jun
10

Leeds Lieder Festival

A book tour event to mark the publication of Rediscovering Black Portraiture by Peter Brathwaite. Join Peter for this In Conversation event about his book, illustrated by projections of his re-creations of representations of black subjects in Western art, Caribbean Folk Songs, and songs by composers including Hanns Eisler.

More details here.

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‘Rediscovering Black Portraiture’ Book Release
Apr
11
to May 30

‘Rediscovering Black Portraiture’ Book Release

Publication dates: 11 April 2023 (UK) and 30 May 2023 (US) - Available to pre-order everywhere books are sold.

Join Peter Brathwaite on an extraordinary journey through representations of Black subjects in Western art, from medieval Europe through the present day.

Rediscovering Black Portraiture collects more than fifty of Brathwaite’s most intriguing re-creations. Introduced by the author and framed by contributions from experts in art history and visual culture, this fascinating book offers a nuanced look at the complexities and challenges of building identity within the African diaspora and how such forces have informed Black portraits over time. Artworks featured include The Adoration of the Magi by Georges Trubert, Portrait of an Unknown Man by Jan Mostaert, Rice n Peas by Sonia Boyce, Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley, and many more. This volume also invites readers behind the scenes, offering a glimpse of the elegant artifice of Brathwaite’s props, setup, and process.
 
An urgent and compelling exploration of embodiment, representation, and agency, Rediscovering Black Portraiture serves to remind us that Black subjects have been portrayed in art for nearly a millennium and that their stories demand to be told.

“This highly entertaining book is a breathtaking visual explosion in which Brathwaite reimagines a wide variety of portraits of Black people in a stunningly creative way. This brilliant concept is not only an original visual treat but also an important historical work that focuses on Black portraiture across the centuries.”
— Baroness Floella Benjamin DBE, actress, presenter, broadcaster, and parliamentarian

Publisher: Getty Publications

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Previous Highlights

  • Wolf Witch Giant Fairy - December 2023 to January 2024

    Peter reprises the role of Narrator in Little Bulb’s Olivier Award Winning show.

  • October 2023

    Appearances at the V&A Museum, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Shakespeare’s Globe, the British Library, the University of Oxford, and more.

  • Aldeburgh Residency - September 2023

    Peter and pianist Allyson Devenish undertake a Britten Pears Arts Residency to develop a concert based on his Rediscovering Black Portraiture series.

  • Barbados Museum & Historical Society - July 2023

    Peter leads a workshop on all aspects of his creative practise with Youth Ambassadors for Heritage and Climate Change to mark works from Rediscovering Black Portraiture joining the collections of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society, Bridgetown.

  • Honorary Doctor of Music - July 2023

    Peter admitted to the degree of Doctor of Music (DMus) honoris causa of Newcastle University.

  • Leeds Lieder - June 2023

    A Rediscovering Black Portraiture Lecture Recital.

    Peter Brathwaite baritone

    Allyson Devenish piano

  • Tristan und Isolde - April 2023

    Melot in a new Tiago Rodrigues production of Tristan und Isolde that will be conducted by Leo Hussain at Théâtre de Caen.

  • Insurrection: A Work In Progress - March 2023

    Insurrection: A Work In Progress explores the history of resistance in Barbados through Peter’s personal story. The work is a collaboration between baritone Peter Brathwaite, director Ellen McDougall, writer Emily Aboud, and music director Yshani Perinpanayagam who is arranging the original material. The team will be joined by a soprano, and five musicians including percussionist  Rosie Bergonzi. The work is programmed by the Royal Opera and produced by Fay Jennett, with the support of Cultural Consultant Dr Stefan Walcott.

  • Inside Music on BBC Radio 3 - March 2023

    Baritone Peter Brathwaite with profound and joyful sounds Inside Music Baritone Peter Brathwaite invites us to listen to some of his personal discoveries - from a melancholic Romanian Doina he first heard while working on a show at the Royal Opera House, to Warlock’s Bethlehem Down which he recorded during his gap year.

  • Tristan und Isolde - January to February 2023

    Melot in a new Tiago Rodrigues production of Tristan und Isolde that will be conducted by Leo Hussain at Opéra national de Lorraine.

  • Rebel Sounds: Musical Resistance in Barbados - January 2023

    Peter Brathwaite travels to the land of his ancestors to discover the music of enslaved people in Barbados, as seen through the lens of his own family's history.

    🎧 Listen now on BBC Sounds

  • Guest Artist on National Gallery "Face vale: Portraits, sitters and viewers" - January 2023

    Guest artist speaker on ‘Face value: Portraits, sitters and viewers’ course at National Gallery, London.

  • Britten Weekend at Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh - October 2022

    Britten’s song cycle Tit for Tat with pianist Malcolm Martineau in the closing recital of the 2022 Britten Weekend.

  • Philharmonie de Paris - September 2022

    The role of Stubb in Olga Neuwirth’s The Outcast Hommage à Herman Melville - with Ensemble intercontemporain - Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris - Matthias Pintscher - Netia Jones

  • Recording in Barbados - July 2022

    Author and presenter of a newly commissioned documentary on the musical and cultural legacy of enslavement in Barbados.

  • Munich Biennale - May 2022

    Paul in the world premiere of Ann Cleare’s The Little Lives with Ensemble Musikfabrik.

  • Olivier Awards 2022 - April 2022

    Wolf Witch Giant Fairy - Winner of ‘Best Family Show’.

  • In Plain Sight Exhibition - January 2022 to June 2022

    Peter’s Rediscovering Black Portraiture series featured in a new film commissioned as part of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum’s In Plain Sight: Transatlantic slavery and Devon.

  • Royal Opera House - December '21 to January 2022

    Narrator in the world premiere of Little Bulb and The Royal Opera’s Wolf Witch Giant Fairy .

  • Royal Opera House Stream - October 2021

    Martin Carter in the streamed recording of Hannah Kendall’s The Knife of Dawn.

  • Royal Philharmonic Society Awards - October 2021

    Peter shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award.

  • Visible Skin Exhibition - September '21 to February 2022

    Solo exhibition in association with King’s College London and the Wellcome Trust. Featuring work from the Rediscovering Black Portraiture series.

  • La Monnaie, Brussels - September 2021

    Joey in the world premiere of Kris Defoort’s The Time of Our Singing at La Monnaie.