1805 Concert
Longitudinal cross section of Jean-Hyacinthe Laclotte’s “Project of a Playhouse for
the Town of New Orleans” (1805), Shea Trahan, AIA
French Comic Opera in New Orleans
September 26-27, 7:30 p.m., LSU Digital Media Center Theater
Travel back in time to New Orleans in 1805, in a unique concert event that brings together classical musical performance, innovative humanities scholarship and cutting-edge technology! Presented by the LSU Center for French and Francophone Studies, the 1805 Concert is a unique recital of arias from the French comic operas popular in Louisiana at the turn of the nineteenth century, performed live in a digitally-enabled acoustical environment that restitutes the soundscape of a massive theatre proposed for the New Orleans waterfront in 1805.
Building doors open at 6:30 to allow spectators to explore the 2024 Department of French Studies Senior Seminar collaborative project on life in Territorial New Orleans, as well as the undergraduate-led New Orleans Historic Theater Database Project, which each provide context for the evening’s entertainment and showcase the fine scholarship being created by LSU undergraduates.
In conjunction with the 1805 Concert, CFFS is delighted to present a Symposium on Performance Cultures of Territorial Louisiana on September 26 at 4:30pm
in the DMC Theater. Dr. Julia Doe will speak on the French composer André Grétry, whose works were the
most popular to be played on the stages of Territorial New Orleans, and Dr. Philiipe
Girard will speak on the circulation of blackface performance practices in the French
Caribbean, focusing on two important female performers who died in Territorial New
Orleans. These talks are free and open to the public, and promise to provide fascinating
scholarly background for the performances to follow in the DMC theatre later that
evening and the following day - all are welcome!
Symposium on Performance Cultures in Territorial New Orleans Information
The 1805 Concert is a major research outcome of a multi-year project involving students
and scholars working in the fields of French studies, history, theatre, music, architecture
and computer science. Click the button below to learn more about the history of this
unique interdisciplinary collaboration!
1805 Concert History
Since 2022, the LSU CFFS has established itself as a leading site for scholarship
on the French Caribbean, including Louisiana and its living past and historical present.
With this priority in mind, the 1805 Concert provides an accessible, performance-based
outcome for a multidisciplinary research initiative that focuses on French-language
artistic and political cultures in territorial New Orleans between 1803-1812. The
1805 Concert directly supports the CFFS mission “to promote the development of French
and Francophone culture and scholarship at LSU and in Louisiana more broadly” while
exploring exciting new avenues for sharing results of ongoing research in French language
and culture conducted by LSU faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.
CFFS Territorial Louisiana Digital Humanities Projects
Please explore the different subpages devoted to aspects of this project - 1805 Concert performers and Scholars, the Symposium on Performance Cultures of Territorial New Orleans, and the CFFS Territorial Louisiana Project.
We look forward to seeing you September 26 and 27 at 7:30 PM in the DMC Theatre!