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Every Voice with Terrance McKnight — Music
Every Voice with Terrance McKnight

“Every Voice with Terrance McKnight” is a show that spotlights the vibrant stories and perspectives that reflect the whole of the American musical experience.

There are many different kinds of classical music, depending on where you are in the world. While this music typically preserves the traditions of a given society, classical music in America remains wedded to its Western European roots. On this show, we want to know why — and what America’s classical music really sounds like. Through interviews, historical investigation, and personal storytelling, Terrance McKnight unearths the hidden voices that have been shaping our musical traditions all along.

Our debut season examines the representation of Blackness in opera. While character flaws are universal, stereotypes often fall along racial lines. We look at the loneliness, jealousy, self-loathing, and cultural appropriation associated with African characters in 18th and 19th century operas by Mozart and Verdi, and we introduce the African-American personalities found in the operas of Atlanta-based composer Dr. Sharon Willis.

Copyright: © WQXR

Latest Episodes:

Aida: Off the Chain Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

At the heart of Verdi's opera “Aida” is an African love story, where an Egyptian general and an Ethiopian princess fall in love. It premiered in Cairo in 1871, but the truth is, very few Africans went to see it, let alone could afford the price of a ticket. This was a European conception of the East, for European audiences at a time when Egypt’s leadership was attempting to make Egypt ‘the Paris of the East.’

Verdi’s “Aida” often portrays Egyptians as white and free and Ethiopians and black and enslaved, reinforcing colonial stereotypes and colorism, still present in many modern day productions.

Verdi’s “Aida” opera painted a picture of Africa for colonial consumption, and subjected its Egypt and Ethiopian characters to stereotypes and colorism that run rampant through even modern productions.

In this episode of Every Voice with Terrance Mcknight: Joined by bass baritone Sir Willard White as the King of Egypt, soprano Angela Brown as Aida, and mezzo soprano Raehann Bryce Davis as Amneris; we hear from “Aida’s” African characters in their own voices.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit

Aida: Red Heart, White Eyes Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

In Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida,” Princess Aida is torn between her homeland of Ethiopia (ruled by her father, King Amonasro) and her captor, the Egyptian leader Radamès who loves her and whom she loves in return. It’s a powerful love story, an African love story - so why are Egyptians portrayed as white and the Ethiopian as Black and enslaved?

This week on Every Voice with Terrance McKnight: We’re joined by tenor Limmie Pulliam, the first Black man to take on the role of Radamès at the Metropolitan Opera, soprano and arts activist Maleasha Taylor, and WQXR host, opera expert, and Cairo native Nimet Habachy on how Aida was commissioned to help position Egypt as the “Paris of the East” and what that means for Egyptians like her today.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov

Otello: The North Star Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

As the one Black man in Shakespeare’s play and Verdi’s opera, Otello was not only tokenized, but villainized, criticized and minimized. With such an emphasis on Otello’s flaws, how is it that Desdemona fell in love?

In her play “Desdemona,” Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and theater director Peter Sellers tell the story of the women of Otello. And in giving a long-awaited voice to Desdemona, uncover Otello’s connections to Blackness often overlooked or underplayed: a black handkerchief gifted down through generations, the roots of the “Willow” song, and a touching understanding of Desdemona as a child raised and nurtured by an African woman.

This week on Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, the final installment of Verdi’s Otello, the African history and culture hinted at in the opera and uncovered and reimagined by the writer Toni Morrison, laying out the fabric of Desdemona’s nature.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Music provided by the Livermore Valley Opera. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov

Otello: Black Handkerchiefs Matter Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

Giuseppe Verdi's Otello rose from enslavement to the ranks of army general and marries an aristocratic Venetian woman. It’s difficult to imagine the rich cultural heritage of Otello’s African past; that history is only hinted at.

Through the whitewashing of his character, some may forget that Otello is of African descent. But for Iago, the identity of his enemy, Otello, was never far from mind. To him and Verdi’s high-society audience, that assimilation signaled all the dangers of the free Black man.

This week in Every Voice with Terrance McKnight: how a handkerchief, a memento, a gift from one to his love, was used to forge a wedge between Otello and Desdemona’s union, catalyzing the brutish, dangerous, parts of Otello deemed a threat to white womanhood. And that handkerchief: simple plot device? Was it white? Was it black?

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Music provided by the Livermore Valley Opera. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

Otello: Haters Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

This week on Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, we go deeper into Giuseppe Verdi's character of the “Moor of Venice." Otello is a celebrated general in the Venetian army, and as a Black man in a position of power, his status inspires praise and worship by some and searing loathing from others. Otello’s subordinate, Iago, thinks his boss woefully undeserving of his success and his white Venetian wife. Driven mad by entitlement, racism, and jealousy, he schemes to “right” this wrong by any means necessary.

Joined by baritone Thomas Hampson, tenor Limmie Pulliam, and director Peter Sellars, Every Voice unravels the myth that entangles Otello: that Black manhood is something to be feared and controlled, and how the same stereotypes and undertones of superiority remain an alltoo-familiar danger to Black men navigating life in America today.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

Otello: UNMOORED Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

“Otello” debuted in Milan in 1887, just two years after European nations gathered in Berlin to agree on a campaign to carve up and colonize the African continent for their own profit. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, based on the play Shakespeare wrote in the very early 1600s, centers on the Moor, Otello — an African who becomes a much-celebrated Venetian general for leading a successful war against his fellow Africans. Despite that, there’s no lasting comfort in store for Otello: the rage and jealousy of his lieutenant won’t stand for it.

In this episode of Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, tenor Limmie Pulliam and baritone Kevin Maynor join Terrance to examine the character of Otello.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

The Magic Flute: Recycling Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

The use of blackface is a dying trend, but it was fundamental to one of the most popular operas of all time, Mozart’s hit comedic opera, “The Magic Flute“.

Over the last few decades a number of opera companies have been working to create alternate versions of this piece, all of them attempting to shape essential messages relevant to our society; we find out how.

Amongst our guests in this fourth episode of Every Voice, is Professor Melvin Foster, a voice instructor at Morehouse College, Atlanta, who prepares young men for careers in music, including opera.

And next week, Every Voice with Terrance McKnight begins the journey into Giuseppe Verdi’s “Otello.”

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville. The Executive Producer is Tony Phillips. The Executive Producer for WQXR Podcasts is Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Alan Goffinski. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

The Magic Flute: He Said, She Said Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

In Mozart's "The Magic Flute," Monostatos is smitten by the white princess Pamina, whom he is supposed to be guarding under the orders of the high priest Sarastro. His desire to love and belong is the source of anguish, as he feels unworthy of Pamina due to his race and enslaved status. Rather than serve as a commentary on the harsh racial realities of 18th century society, Monostatos instead serves as the comic relief of the opera, embodying the loud, threatening, and childish caricature which became the template for American minstrelsy.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville and Tony Phillips with help from Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Sapir Rosenblatt. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

The Magic Flute: Invisible Man Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

At over 200 years old, “The Magic Flute” remains a classic opera which continues to be taught, studied, and performed in sold-out venues around the world. But with more than two centuries of history since “The Magic Flute’s” conception, how do we best shed light on the stereotypes each staging continues to portray?

In this episode of Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, get to know the character of Monostatos, the enslaved overseer of Sarastro’s temple, whose longing for Pamina, a white woman, is meant to be a source of comedy. Despite the stereotypes that inform this character, his experience of loneliness and feeling othered is one that many can relate to. Could future stagings of “The Magic Flute” highlight the depth and complexity of Monostatos’s character – and provide an important teaching moment?

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville and Tony Phillips with help from Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Sapir Rosenblatt. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson. Special thanks to The Met archives.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

The Magic Flute: From Morehouse … to the opera house with Monostatos Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Monostatos the Moor in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” is one of the most famous representations of Blackness in opera - a genre with limited representation of characters of African descent. But many are interrogating the Black caricatures that European classical music long ago crafted and continue to cultivate to this day.

In the debut episode of Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, we meet Dr. Sharon Willis, Dr. Uzee Brown, and others who are lifting the mask behind opera’s representation of marginalized voices to create something more inclusive and more beautiful for all of us.

This episode is hosted by Terrance McKnight and produced by David Norville and Tony Phillips with help from Elizabeth Nonemaker. Our research team includes Ariel Elizabeth Davis, Pranathi Diwakar, Ian George, and Jasmine Ogiste. Sound design and engineering by Sapir Rosenblatt. Original music composed by Jeromy Thomas and Ashley Jackson.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

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