About

Love blooms where you least expect it.

Music and Libretto by Nkeiru Okoye
Duration: Approximately 15 minutes
Forces: Soprano and String Quartet

Themes: Black Love, humor, social commentary
Genre: Operatic Song Cycle

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Movements: 

1. We Met at the Symphony

2. A Deafening Moan

3. Trust

Commission: Commissioned by The Harlem Chamber Players through generous funding from the New York State Council on the Arts; vocal score commissioned by the Five Boroughs Music Festival

Awards: Winner, The American Prize in Vocal Chamber Music

For score and parts, contact rental@presser.com

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The Work

We Met at the Symphony is an operatic song cycle for soprano and string quartet that affirms the very human side of love, heartbreak, and resilience. Through three interconnected monologues, a Black woman reflects on her search for connection, voiced through music that blends Classical style with jazz and blues inflections. The cycle thrives on contrast: passion and betrayal, intimacy and isolation, elegance and rawness. 

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Inspired by a desire to write about Black love, a subject too often overshadowed by narratives of trauma, the work follows a journey from unexpected romance to heartbreak and ultimately the possibility of trust. Commissioned by The Harlem Chamber Players and premiered in 2022 at Columbia University, We Met at the Symphony speaks both intimately and universally about love, identity, and belonging.