Dear Friends,
It's with a heavy heart that I am writing this today. As a valued member of our IN Series family, I want to make you aware of what we are going through. As you probably know, we are busy in the final preparations for ETHIOPIA, our final production of the 2024-2025 season themed around works originally banned at the the time of their premiere. ETHIOPIA is a uniquely powerful and transformational work finally receiving its World Premiere after almost 90 years, with a dynamic group of singers, actors, and instrumentalists from all throughout the area, performing in traditions from all around the world.
On this past Friday evening, May 2nd, I received word that the federal government has rescinded its support through the National Endowment for the Arts for ETHIOPIA, stating that it no longer aligns with funding priorities. To be clear, this grant of $20,000 was offered and promised in the Fall of 2024, and we have budgeted for, and prepared this production in good faith.
We, the staff and board of IN Series, as well as the beautiful artists making this unique production, are of course shocked and reeling from the news. Watching this piece come to life in the rehearsal room so many years after a group of struggling artists and journalists, including a nameless but stranded troupe of African opera singers in New York in 1936, first dreamed it into being, has made us all realize the responsibility we have to their legacy, to the truth they were pursuing in first making the work, and to those for whom this story is the rarely voiced song of their ancestors and personal history. For all these reasons, and in a sense of denying censorship its sting, we are committed to finally premiering ETHIOPIA in less than too weeks. But we are also struggling to make up for the sudden loss of these promised funds.
It is in friendship and humility, and with a deep commitment to the artists and integrity of their work, that I come to you during this extraordinary time. We are starting a special campaign to raise the missing funds for ETHIOPIA. There is an appeals process to the NEA, but we are not hopeful, and are production is scheduled to open on May 16th. Beyond all the incredible generous support you give each year to IN Series, which we count on and which makes our artistic work possible, I'm hoping you might consider giving in some part to help us overcome this sudden loss of funding and mount the World Premiere finally of ETHIOPIA. I know that this is an extraordinary request, every gift makes a real difference in making this work possible. Together, as a community that believes in the power of art to make us all better, we can defy censorship once more to finally allow a historic and resonant piece of America art to see the light of day, and to deepen our lived experience. We must not allow it to be silenced again. I do believe that in moments like these, we can and must come together to insist on the possibility of beauty and truth.
I'm grateful for whatever you can do. You can make a donation below or call our office at 202-204-7763. You can also email our Director of Development Janelle Kennedy at janelle@inseries.org.
Thank you for your time, your care, and for you,
Timothy
