We were lucky to catch up with Cerise Lim Jacobs recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cerise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful projects I’ve worked on relate to my heritage as an immigrant and a Chinese woman. White Snake Projects would not exist if it were not for the fact that I live at the intersection of these three modalities. My first opera, Madame White Snake, which is based on the most beloved myth in East Asia – the Legend of the White Snake – won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize (Zhou Long, composer.) I’ve gone on to create I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, a response to Trump’s revocation of DACA, exploring the immigrant experience. This piece has toured to Pittsburgh and as of the time of writing, it will premiere at Tri-Cities Opera and Syracuse Opera. This season, we premiered Monkey, A Kung Fu Puppet Parable, based on the 16th century Chinese quest saga, “Journey to the West.”

Cerise, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and educated in Singapore during British colonial times. This has colored my world view of colonialism and being “othered.” My family emigrated to Australia when I was 16. After 2 years, I ran away from home to marry my first husband. After 4 years of being a college dropout, I went back to school and went to Harvard Law. I practised as a trial lawyer for almost 25 years. My second husband and artistic partner, Charles, asked me to retire. That’s when I began searching for something that I could spend the last 1/3 of my life doing. I “fell” into creating opera when one day, the first draft of Madame White Snake poured out of me. And the rest is history.

Charles died after Madame White Snake premiered in 201o. He never got a chance to bask in the glow of the Pulitzer (at least not on this earth.) I continued our work by founding White Snake Projects, named after the the white snake, a powerful woman warrior. WSP is an activist opera company. We only produce and premiere new work as we believe that is the most effective way of exploring today’s issues that consume us. Opera-based activism is not something most opera companies do. For us, it’s the only thing we do. We believe that the time of “art for art’s sake” is past and that we have a responsibility to use our platform to use our art to effectuate meaningful change in this world.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I have had to struggle for credibility from traditional opera companies and gatekeepers because of my background. I was viewed (and perhaps in some circles still viewed) as a dilettante because I did not work my way up in opera, am not a musician and self produce. I was criticized for not writing in “vernacular American,” I formed White Snake Projects as a vanguard against this exclusive and elitist point of view. Five years later, we have grown and thrived.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn my cultural brainwashing as a woman raised in a traditional Chinese family. it has been a lifelong journey and continues even today. It’s hard to think independently, have a point of view and be able to stand up for oneself and what I believe it. Each day brings me closer to my goal of shedding the worst of my upbringing, embracing the best and also integrating the most positive of American values.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.whitensnakeprojects.org

Image Credits
Cerise Lim Jacobs (by Manon Haliburton) White Snake Projects