You may know about classical composers Mozart and Beethoven, but have you ever heard of Dédé? As a Black American composer, Edmond Dédé struggled to have his work taken seriously, which may be why many people don’t know his name. Now, more than 100 years after his death, Dédé is getting some long-deserved recognition. 

In February, an opera by Dédé had its premiere performance in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. An opera is a story set to music and performed by singers and instrumentalists. Dédé’s opera, called Morgiane, is about a young woman who is kidnapped and her mother’s efforts to rescue her.

Born in 1827 to free Black parents, Dédé grew up in New Orleans. Today the city is known as the birthplace of jazz music. But when Dédé was growing up, it was a center of classical music. Dédé took music lessons from his father and others and became an acclaimed violin and clarinet player. But racism kept Dédé from earning much respect as a composer. Eventually, he moved to Europe, where he wrote music until his death in 1901.

Dédé finished Morgiane in 1887, but his handwritten opera was lost for more than 100 years—until it turned up in a collection of music being stored at Harvard University. In 2025, Morgiane is finally being heard. After premiering in New Orleans, the opera was performed in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Patrick Dupre Quigley, who conducted the New Orleans performance, once called Morgiane “the most important opera never heard.” Quigley says many people don’t realize how many Black Americans have composed classical music because their work wasn’t always as highly appreciated as that of white composers.

“There is this story that we have told that people of color are only now becoming part of the timeline of classical music,” Quigley told CNN. “And the reality is that in the United States…Black people were [already] participating in classical music.”