The opera traces their arrests, coerced confessions and unjust trials against a backdrop of racial prejudice – weaving an intimate, nuanced and deeply human portrait of justice and perseverance. Musically, Davis draws on jazz, contemporary classical, R&B, and hip-hop to underscore the drama and create a portrait of Black American music that stretches across time and genre.

“Opera is a powerful platform for the defining stories of our time. The Central Park Five tells a consequential American story with extraordinary artistry and urgent contemporary resonance,” says Michelle Magaldi, CEO of LBO. “With this recording, Anthony Davis and Richard Wesley’s landmark work, realized by our creative collaborators and performers, will continue to educate, provoke, and confront new audiences.”

"Music can capture the tensions and fissures in our cultural and political life and the hope of something better. As a composer, I have always been drawn to stories that intersect the political and cultural worlds. The Exonerated Five were falsely accused and convicted of the crime with no physical evidence and were victims in a culture war waged against Black and Hispanic communities,” says Davis. “The Central Park Five is a story of a community rising up against injustice, of the Five finally finding exoneration and vindication. But we know the cost, and we understand this is a continuing story. The forces that implicated the Five are still with us,” he adds.

Today, Long Beach Opera (LBO), Los Angeles County’s oldest and most historically provocative opera company, announces the debut commercial recording of Anthony Davis and Richard Wesley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five, to be released August 28, 2026 on Platoon – pre-order/pre-save HERE. Listen to two singles ahead of the album’s release, “The Central Park Five, Act II: Scene 3 (Single Version)” here and “The Central Park Five, Act I: Scene 2: "The World is Ours"” here.

Sung in English, The Central Park Five dramatizes the true story of the “Exonerated Five” – Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise – five Black and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted in the 1989 rape and assault of a woman jogger in Central Park. After years in prison, the young men were exonerated through DNA evidence and the confession by the actual perpetrator of the crime. 

The recording features performances by Cedric Berry (Yusef Salaam), William Powell III (Antron McCray), Bernard Holcomb (Kevin Richardson), Orson Van Gay (Raymond Santana), Ashley Faatoalia (Korey Wise), Justin Ryan (The Masque), Lacey Jo Benter (District Attorney), Todd Strange (Donald Trump), Joelle Lamarre (Ensemble / Antron's Mother / Kevin's Mother / Others), Lindsay Patterson Abdou (Sharonne Salaam / Others), Corey Estelle (Ensemble), and

Josè Luis Maldonado (Ensemble / Raymond's Father / Matias Reyes), conducted by Anthony Parnther.