Monodrama von George Lewis auf ein Libretto von Jeffery Renard Allen nach seinem gleichnamigen Roman
He was known as »Blind Tom«: the Black pianist and composer Thomas Wiggins, born in 1849 to enslaved parents in the US state of Georgia. Early in life, he became an illustrious artist personality. A pianistic »child prodigy«, he was soon labelled a »Black Mozart«. In the 20[sup]th[/sup]
century, however, he was forgotten. The American writer Jeffery Renard Allen rediscovered him, publishing the novel ›Song of the Shank‹ in 2014. The composer George Lewis is writing an eponymous work about »Blind Tom«, which will have its world premiere in Frankfurt am Main on June 5, 2023 and will be presented in a staged version at the Wiener Festwochen from June 15 to 17, 2023.
