Artist Profile: Cerise L. Jacobs on Her Journey from Law School to Activist Opera

When Cerise Lim Jacobs entered Harvard Law School, she was unsettled by the Socratic method’s inquisitive nature, as the method uses argumentative dialogue to challenge a person’s beliefs. Decades later, she committed herself to pursuing this method through White Snake Projects, an activist opera company that aims to comment on and break societal stereotypes about marginalized communities.

The Harvard Crimson sat down with the former federal prosecutor, current opera-maker, and Singapore native to discuss the meaning behind opera-based activism, as well as the origins of White Snake Projects and what audiences can expect to see in the near future.

When asked about her journey to opera from Harvard Law School, Jacobs confirmed it was “out of the blue.” However, she acknowledged that her education at HLS played a crucial component in her transition to opera.

“It was difficult for me to think independently because of my culture and the way that we are taught in Singapore,” Jacobs said. “So the whole Socratic method that the Law School used was extremely difficult for me because it was required that I think and answer questions, and that was something I wasn’t used to.”

Prior to her career in opera, Jacobs practiced law in the Greater Boston area for more than 20 years. She served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston for nearly five years.

The methods of thinking that she was exposed to at Harvard “helped cultivate” her “independent, entrepreneurial spirit” when she chose to step away from practicing law.

While Jacobs made the decision to change career paths between two drastically different industries, the skills between her fields of choice were unexpectedly highly transferable. The key takeaway: “clear, concise communication.”

“[Those] are the exact skills you need to create good opera, and I’m talking about new opera, as well as to run a company, because you really need to be able to vision clearly the steps that lead from A to Z,” Jacobs elaborated as she explained why her time as a litigator helped her shape her company in the long run.

Jacobs’s opera production career started out as a birthday present to her late husband, Charles, who was very passionate about this musical endeavor. The impromptu gift eventually became the first draft of “Madame White Snake,” a story based on the well-known Chinese folk tale, “The Legend of the White Snake.”

At first, Charles was confused about her creation, but he soon recognized its promise.

“He said, you know, maybe you have something here,” she said. “So we worked on it together and managed to partner with Opera Boston to produce it, and then it went on to win the Pulitzer Prize.”

After the success of “Madame White Snake,” Jacobs continued creating works of opera and soon founded White Snake Projects, an activist opera company. The company produces operas that aim to explore relevant issues and create social impact. It focuses on multiculturalism, as well as interaction with the communities that are the focus of their art. Their operas have been performed in New York, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and many other locations around the world.

“I wanted something that was going to be worth me spending the last years of my life on — so I think that working to develop White Snake Projects, which is an activist opera company, is what I’ve devoted the rest of my life to,” Jacobs explained.

Jacobs criticized the “old trope” of female characters’ deaths present in many operas, and she emphasized that White Snake Projects strives to be “more representative” of women and people of color.

“We do not produce traditional repertory; we only produce new opera world premieres that we commissioned and create and develop, because that’s the only way we’re going to be able to use the company and what we do as a platform for social change,” she said. “Because that is our mission. Our mission is to marry activism and technology.”

Long-term, Jacobs envisions White Snake Projects as a platform that will create “equal footing” for people of color in a predominantly white form of artistic performance.

“And that is the ultimate goal — to desegregate the performing arts in Boston — and it’s a huge lofty goal, and we have to take it one step at a time, and maybe it’s only achieved in my lifetime, but I’m sure as heck gonna try,” she said.

Jacobs describes 0pera-based activism as listening to a “need.” She explained that the opera created in response to a “need” aims to “explore that need, explore that issue.”

This concept is best understood by looking at previous ways White Snake Projects responded to events that had major sociopolitical impacts.

When Trump revoked the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), the opera company “immediately commissioned” a production named “I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams.” This production explored the definition of what it means to be American in the scope of immigration. Jacobs illustrated the community’s response by explaining that they “wept” and “loved it.”

After George Floyd was murdered, White Snake Projects felt that simply releasing a statement was not a sufficient response to “this terrible act,” Jacobs recalled. The company proceeded to form a community “think tank” to brainstorm a possible response in the form of opera.

“We came up with an opera, the theme of which is long-term mass incarceration, which of course, is part of racialized policing, which is what killed Mr. Floyd. And we got together, managed to acquire text from incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and their families, and we had five Black composers set that text to music to make an opera,” Jacobs said. “And so that is opera-based activism.”

As for White Snake Projects’ upcoming 2023-24 season, the unique selection of productions will include: “Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable,” a multicultural show based on an ancient Chinese quest; “Let’s Celebrate!” which will showcase lesser-known significant holidays of diverse cultures; “Sing Out Strong,” which is based on the theme “voting as freedom”; and lastly “Opera Through The Looking Glass,” where White Snake Projects uses a traditional story — this year, “Don Giovanni” — to “dispute a traditional trope.”

In closing reflection, Jacobs emphasized the importance of recognizing the privilege and platform Harvard grants its students and affiliates.

“Use it to effectuate some kind of change,” she stated.

—Staff writer Hailey E. Krasnikov can be reached at hailey.krasnikov@thecrimson.com