In January 2023, MetLiveArts presented the premiere of Shawn E. Okpebholo and Tsitsi Ella Jaji's groundbreaking song cycle Songs in Flight, based on early US newspaper ads seeking the recapture of self-emancipated enslaved people, now enshrined in Cornell University's massive "Freedom on the Move" database. The premiere, which included a powerhouse team of performers from the opera world's most prominent stages, was praised for "[finding] uncommon power in the humble format of folk and art songs" (The New York Times). Just over a year after Songs in Flight's Met premiere, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will host a special virtual conversation with the team that made the first performance possible: composer Shawn E. Okpebholo, librettist Tsitsi Ella Jaji, countertenor Reginald Mobley, and Martha Guth, co-director of commissioning body Sparks & Wiry Cries. Join them for a discussion of the piece's inspirations, process, and staying power, moderated by The Met's Lulu C. and Anthony W. Wang General Manager of Live Arts, Limor Tomer. To learn more about Songs in Flight, view the premiere performance's program or visit the Sparks & Wiry Cries website. Register for this event HERE.