Always Tell the Truth [CF:111-40336]

Knowing that he will be interrogated after his children disappear from the plantation, Harriet’s father Ben dons a blindfold as they make their escape plan. Why? Because Ben Ross has never told a lie, and will then be able to say truthfully that he didn’t see anything. This upbeat aria for tenor and piano from Nkeiru Okoye’s celebrated opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom paints a vivid picture of a man’s determination to keep true to his moral principles in the face of enormous oppression.