Jul 28, 2026

Emancipation Day Celebrates the Strength & Perseverance of Black Communities

In 2021, the House of Commons designated August 1 as Emancipation Day in Canada, commemorating the day that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect across most of the British Empire.  On this day, Canadians are invited to reflect on and honour the courage, hope, and humanity of those who paved a way to freedom and to fight ongoing anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination.

For Manitoba Opera, Emancipation Day is an opportunity to recognize the legacy of artists whose resilience lives on through operatic music, storytelling, and artistic expression. One of these artists is Scott Joplin, the composer of Treemonisha.

Born in 1868, Scott Joplin was one of the most famous musicians in America at the end of the 19th century. Known as the King of Ragtime for writing hits like Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer, Joplin aspired to write opera and symphonies but racism and the public who only viewed him as popular tunesmith stood in his way. Treemonisha was completed in 1911 but was never performed in his lifetime. Despite all his success, Joplin was unable to secure financial backing for a fully staged presentation of his masterpiece. It was finally produced in 1975 by the Houston Grand Opera.

Treemonisha is one of the few surviving classical music pieces about the immediate post-slavery era written by a Black person who actually lived through that period. Fusing classical music with ragtime, folk and Gospel sounds Joplin knew from his childhood growing up in Texarkana, Texas, this blend of genres was unlike anything that had come before and was born from Joplin’s ingenuity and collisions of cultures.

This season, we are honoured to present the Western Canadian premiere of Volcano Theatre’s production of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining.

Building on Joplin’s original work, this 21st-century adaptation introduces new musical and theatrical elements with both traditional European and African instruments, while preserving the original themes of leadership and community empowerment.

Learn More about Scott Joplin and Volcano Theatre’s ground-breaking production in the CBC Documentary Short: The Reinvention of the 1911 Opera: Treemonisha.

Emancipation Day is more than a historical milestone. It is a day to remember not only what was taken, but also what could never be taken: the inherent worth and dignity of a people. May we continue to listen, to learn, and to ensure that every voice has the opportunity to be heard.