This year Pegasus Opera Company celebrates the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain by presenting a brand new production of Delius’ rarely seen masterpiece Koanga.

Frederick Delius’ work is eclectic and employs expressive harmonies and rich orchestration. He first learnt the piano from a Jacksonville organist after moving to Florida to run an orange plantation, where he was profoundly interested in the singing of black workers. This haunting musical quality echoed his early Romantic influences of Chopin and Wagner.

Written at the end of the 19th century, Koanga can justly claim to be the very first African-American opera and is inspired by the composer’s experiences in America’s deep south.

The opera tells the story of Koanga, an African prince sold into slavery and a world of wicked treachery. His intense love and eventual marriage to Palmyra cannot prevent a tragic conclusion.

Bringing together professional soloists, dancers and an 86-strong orchestra and chorus, Koanga tells an old tale which deals with the very modern issues of racial and cultural conflict, inter-racial love and betrayal.