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[[image - production photo of Aida cast and part of orchestra]] [[image caption - AIDA: ACT II, SCENE 2]] A Brief History of the Company The National Negro Opera Company was conceived and created in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1941 by a woman with an idea. The inspiration for this idea was motivated by the desire to create opportunities for thousands of talented young people, for whom the chance of self- expression would have been impossible without the channels created through the National Negro Opera. That woman was Madame Mary Cardwell Dawson, who through ceaselss, unselfish efforts long heralded as monumental throughout the musical world by critiques, editors and musical commentators, now lives as a symbol of the inherent and high possibilities in each of us when our ideals are noble and unselfish. PRODUCTIONS - The Company has staged performances in: Pittsburgh, at the Syria Mosque; Chicago, at the Civic Opera House and Coliseum, 8th Street Theatre, New York's Metropolitan Opera House, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, and Town Hall; and at Washington's Watergate, National Guard Armory and Clark Griffith Stadium. GUILDS of the National Negro Opera Company are located in New York City, Washington D. C., Baltimore, Md., Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland and Red Bank, New Jersey. POLICY - The Company has always operated as an inter-racial, inter-cultural organization, engaging hundreds of members from the best symphony orchestras as: Members of Philharmonic Orchestra New York, Pittsburgh Symphony, National Symphony, and others. REPERTOIRE: "Aida," "Latraviata," and "Il Travatore" by Verdi; "Carmen" by Bizet; "Ouauga" by C. C. White; and "Ordering of Moses" by R. N. Dett; an Oratoria arranged in operatic form by Mary Cardwell Dawson. PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES To create opportunities for young singers and musicians and to give significance to the possibilities of their talents. To inspire composers of all ethnic groups to the creation of operatic composition, using the cultural background of Negro spirituals and Creole folk songs as the motif. To encourage the desire to understand and to develop the cultural appreciation essential to the full enjoyment of opera. [[image - cast photo, "La Traviata"]] [[image caption - LA TRAVIATA: ACT III]] A Brief History of the Foundation The National Negro Opera Foundation is dedicated to the purpose of perpetuating the work of the National Negro Opera Company. To this it seeks the financial assistance of all friends of opera. The Foundation is a non-profit, organization, Inc., under the laws of the Distric of Columbia, and is inter-racial in its composition. SPECIFIC GOALS, PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES: The futherance of national opera headquarters in Washington, D. C., with opera centers located in several principal cities: To raise funds with which to assist the Company in presenting a regular season of opera in cities where opera guilds are established; To underwrite Opera workshops; To grant scholarships to gifted composers, artists, musicians, and music students; To utilize opera as a cultural means for developing interracial harmony, good will, and understanding. To encourage and secure wider support and activity on behalf of the Company through the financial assistance of the National Negro Opera Foundation, thus enabling the Company to continue its artistic productions as valuable contributions to the cultural life of America.