Drawn to stories that intersect the political & cultural worlds: Anthony Davis's opera The Central Park Five released on disc by Long Beach Opera

Anthony Davis: The Central Park Five - Long Beach Opera 2022 (Photo: JJ Geiger)

I first came across the case of the Central Park Five when I read Joan Didion's essay Sentimental Journeys first published in the New York Review of Books in 1991 and collected in her book After Henry. In the essay she considers the case of the Central Park jogger from 1989 to examine the way the city's sentimentality for the narratives it tells about itself, whether they are true or not. No-one reading the essay could have doubted that those indicted for the crime, the Central Park Five, were innocent. Though it took time for justice to truly be served.

It might seem a strange subject for an opera, but then operas have been long fascinated with the excesses of human emotion and frailty. The Central Park Five by composer Anthony Davis and librettist Richard Wesley premiered at Long Beach Opera (LBO) in 2019 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2020. And the work was released by LBO this week on Platoon. 

LBO is Southern California's oldest opera company, founded in 1979. Under artistic director James Darrah Black and music director Christopher Rountree, LBO creates immersive work that blends film, dance, new music and more. 

The assault and rape of a woman who was jogging in Central Park took place in 1989 and five teenagers were sentenced. It would only be in 2002 that another perpetrator entirely, a serial rapist, confessed to the assault and said he was the only actor, with DNA evidence confirming his confession.

Composer Anthony Davis explains what drew him to the drama:

"1989. A group of predominantly Black and Hispanic teenagers enter Central Park in New York City. They turnover garbage cans, throw rocks, harass people on bicycles. A young woman is sexually assaulted in the Park and six teenagers are detained and questioned about the assault. Five of the teenagers, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam and Antron McCray become the center of a criminal case that would polarize New York City. The Exonerated Five were falsely accused and convicted of the crime with no physical evidence. Condemned publicly by the press, the Exonerated Five were victims in a culture war waged against  Black and Hispanic communities.  A politically ambitious real estate mogul condemns the teenagers with a full page add, proclaiming “Bring Back the Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police!” The persecution of the Central Park Five marks the beginning of Donald Trump’s political career, built on racial animus and the exploitation of the deep rooted racial divide in America."

As a composer, Davis seems to be drawn to stories that intersect the political and cultural worlds. His operas explore political moments and movements that are reflected in the dynamic of music. X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, premiered by New York City Opera in 1986, is based on the life of the civil rights leader Malcolm X. A new production starring  Davóne Tines premiered at Detroit Opera in 2022 and was performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2023 and Seattle Opera in 2024. Amistad, premiered by Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1997, is about a case of an 1839 slave mutiny on a Spanish ship that reached the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of freeing them. The Chicago performance was released on disc by New World Records. Davis revised the work in 2008 creating a leaner version which was premiered at the Spoleto Festival USA. Wakonda’s Dream premiered by Opera Omaha in 2007. The opera is about a contemporary Native American family, affected by the historical events and court case of 1879 in Nebraska, in which American Indians were recognized as “human beings under the law” for the first time in U.S. history.  

The Central Park Five traces the five protagonists' arrests, coerced confessions and unjust trials against a backdrop of racial prejudice – weaving an intimate, nuanced and deeply human portrait of justice and perseverance. Musically, Davis draws on jazz, contemporary classical, R&B, and hip-hop to underscore the drama and create a portrait of Black American music that stretches across time and genre. 

Davis was born in New Jersey and studied at Yale. He has received acclaim as a free-jazz pianist, a co-leader with various ensembles. His music incorporates several styles including jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, gospel, non-Western, and African, as well as European classical and Indonesian gamelan. He is professor of music at the University of California, San Diego.

Davis's interest in The Central Park Five began with his and Wesley's opera Five, premiered by Trilogy: An Opera Company in New Jersey in 2016 [see YouTube]. In 2019, Long Beach Opera commissions The Central Park Five which develops out of Five and the opera is premiered by LBO, with Davis winning the Pulitzer Prize the following year. In March 2022 Portland Opera presents The Central Park Five, then LBO returned to the work in June 2022 with a new production. Following this, cast and conductor are brought into the studio to create the recording which is issued by Platoon. In March 2025, Detroit Opera presented Davis's expanded orchestration of The Central Park Five.

LBO's recording of The Central Park Five features Cedric Berry (Yusef Salaam), William Powell III (Antron McCray), Bernard Holcomb (Kevin Richardson), Orson Van Gay II (Raymond Santana), Ashley Faatoalia (Korey Wise), Justin Ryan (The Masque), Lacey Jo Benter (District Attorney), Todd Strange (Donald Trump), Joelle Lamarre (Ensemble / “Antron's Mother” / “Kevin's Mother” / Others), Lindsay Patterson Abdou (Sharonne Salaam / Others), Corey Estelle (Ensemble), José Luis Maldonado (Ensemble / Raymond's Father / Matias Reyes), conducted by Anthony Parnther.

Further information about The Central Park Five recording from LBO's website. [streaming links]