Tonight, Opera Company of Brooklyn celebrates Black Awareness Month with a special presentation featuring the work of Afro-French composer and conductor, Joseph de Boulogne, the Chevalier de Saint-George.

Active in the Royal Courts of eighteenth century France, Saint-George was passed up as the leader of the Paris Opera for reasons of race discrimination; however he remained active in aristocratic circles, including serving in the court of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles. Saint-George’s other passion, fencing, gave him recognition not only in France but also an audience with the British Royal Family.