In Search of the Lost Maestro: Rediscovering Edmond Dédé

About Marguerite de Bourgoing

Marguerite de Bourgoing is a French filmmaker and documentarian based in Los Angeles whose work explores the intersections of music, culture, technology, and social identity. With a background in philosophy, art history, and cinema, she holds degrees from Oxford University, Sorbonne Paris IV, and the University of Southern California (USC).

About Morgan Beckford

Morgan Beckford is a soprano, arts administrator, and teaching artist originally from Memphis, Tennessee. She brings a multidisciplinary background in opera, musical theater, jazz, and arts education to her work as Director of Learning at Boston Lyric Opera, where she oversees community engagement, outreach, and educational programming.

As a performer, Morgan has appeared with Boston’s New Gallery Concert Series, the Cape Cod Chorale, and the Choral Art Society of the South, and has presented lecture-recitals exploring the history of spirituals and African American sacred music. Her stage credits include roles in Susannah, The Magic Flute, In the Heights, and Queenie Pie.

Previously, Morgan held leadership roles with Opera Memphis, the Memphis Music Initiative, and the Community Music Center of Boston. Across her artistic and administrative work, she is dedicated to creating equitable, relevant, and impactful programming that connects diverse communities through music.

About Andrea Cawelti

Andrea Cawelti is a rare music cataloger at Harvard University’s Houghton Library, where she specializes in identifying, preserving, and making accessible historic musical manuscripts and scores.

In 1999, nearly a century after the death of New Orleans–born composer Edmond Dédé, a French music collector sold the manuscript of his opera Morgiane to Harvard as part of a large private collection. About a decade later, while cataloging the collection, Andrea Cawelti discovered the handwritten score. Though initially unfamiliar with Dédé, she recognized the manuscript’s significance, helping spark renewed research, digitization, and eventually modern performances of the long-lost opera.