Fort Worth commissions special JFK opera

by Associated Press

Expect it in 2016.

AP Photo/Courtesy of Alexander Arroyos

This image provide by Alexander Arroyos, taken on Nov. 21, 1963, shows President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy greeting Latino activists the night before his assassination.

FORT WORTH — An opera has been commissioned dealing with the final day of President John F. Kennedy's life before his 1963 assassination in Dallas.

In a statement, the Fort Worth Opera says the opera was commissioned from composer David T. Little and librettist Royce Vavrek. The working title is "JFK" and is planned to premiere during the company's 2016 spring festival season.

The statement says the work will "tell the story of the lives and relationships" of those connected to Kennedy "with a focus on their moments in Fort Worth the morning before his fateful trip to Dallas."

The composition is planned to cap the Fort Worth Opera's 70th anniversary season as part of a 10-year "Opera of the Americas" series.