Harvard Choruses to perform new opera ‘American Jezebel: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson’ 

The Harvard Choruses will perform a world premiere of “American Jezebel: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson” Saturday, an opera that tells the story of Puritan midwife and theologian  Anne Hutchinson.

The opera dramatizes a turbulent chapter of Boston history, where politics, sex, religion, and power collide. At its heart is Hutchinson’s and John Winthrop’s clash over public vs. private, common good vs. individual freedom, and law vs. home, culminating in the 1637 trial.  

Soprano Sarah Joyce Cooper will star as Hutchinson and baritone Sumner Thompson as John Winthrop, while Hana Cai, associate director of Choral Activities and director of the Holden Voice Program, will conduct.

“This has been an important growth opportunity for our choirs because it’s a type of singing that we rarely get to do,” said Andrew Clark, director of Choral Activities and senior lecturer on music. “The role of a chorus in an opera typically is quite different than the role of a chorus in a concert or a recital — we’re not only a part of the story, we’re commenting on the story. The music that the students sing interjects an important moment, reflects upon what’s just happened.”

For Harvard Glee Club member James GaNun ’25, seeing the performance come together in rehearsals has been a rewarding experience. In addition to singing with the choruses, the philosophy concentrator is playing a Puritan man searching for a midwife on a stormy night.

“Embodying stage presence rather than just musical perfection has been something that we’ve been really trying to hammer,” GaNun said. “That’s what makes the show interesting, when it has this energy and you’re registering the emotion on your face. We spent a lot of time thinking about how our lyrics and music fit into the story.”

Composer James Kallembach, director of choral activities at the University of Chicago, said he was inspired to write this piece after learning more about Hutchinson’s story through Eve LaPlante’s autobiography “American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans.”

“It seemed like a compelling story,” Kallembach said. “What was speaking to me was this paradox between needing to have shared values in a community, which is what Winthrop represents, and freewheeling expression, and people being allowed to find their true vocation, which is represented by Anne Hutchinson.”

For Harvard students the history is close to home, as Harvard’s founding in the late 1630s to educate clergy was spurred by the theological schism Hutchinson ignited in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Given this history, Kallembach and Clark saw Harvard as the ideal venue for the work. 

“I hope the audience leaves the performance learning more about this moment in our history,” Clark said. “I hope it inspires some curiosity to learn more and think more about how we listen to one another, to try to understand each other more deeply and with more complexity.”