FAITH: A New Opera
Spero Dei Church Nashville, Tennessee
Kindling Arts Festival
A conductor raises their baton with the words "Faith: A New Opera" superimposed over him
Nashville’s newest chamber orchestra, Blueprint Ensemble, brings to life the new work of composer and librettist Jeremy Smith with the support of beloved local choir Nashville in Harmony. Faith tells the story of a remote fundamentalist Appalachian church where a charismatic preacher’s obsession with power and desire leads him down a path of obsession, manipulation, and murder. When a seductive new follower enters his congregation, the preacher’s sermons grow more extreme, twisting scripture to serve his ambition. His devout wife, Faith, becomes an obstacle—one he must eliminate. In a dramatic public display, Faith’s own beliefs are challenged by her righteous husband who dares her to drink poison and prove that God will spare her life. Blending operatic drama with southern gospel hymns and Appalachian folk, Faith is a Southern Gothic exploration of devotion, deception, and destruction inspired by true events.
Presented as part of Kindling Arts Festival 2026: UTOPIAS, July 23-26.