The Limerick-based folk artist Rhiannon Giddens has just made the 2023 Pulitzer prize winner list for Music after composing Omar with orchestral composer Michael Abels.

It comes after she won a Grammy for Best Folk Album, awarded to her most recent collection They're Calling Me Home. It's an album she artfully crafted with the Irish artist Francesco Turrisi.

In Giddens' excitement, the artist took to Twitter to express her thanks to the Pulitzer Prize committee and share her success.

"This is cultural work, it's heavy work, it's energising work, it's spirit work. It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of it."

This is cultural work, it’s heavy work, it energizing work, its spirit work. It’s an honor and a privilege to be a part of it. #Omar @michaelabels

— Rhiannon Giddens (@RhiannonGiddens) May 8, 2023

Omar is an American opera about the life of Omar ibn Said, who was born and raised in Futa Toro, in modern-day Senegal. Following an interpretation of Omar's life as he is kidnapped, enslaved, and taken to America, it then delves into his life as he flees an abusive master.

Eventually Omar finds himself kept by another, who encourages his education and conversion to Christianity. Historically, Omar ibn Said then wrote memoirs and other documents in Arabic, which the final scenes of the opera touch on.

On FaceBook, Giddens continued on, saying that "this is what art is for - to make emotional connections to stories other than our own, and I am grateful to have been given these words and this music to shepherd, and to have had as wonderful as a collaborator as Micahel Abels."

"5 years of blood, sweat, tears, stress, and worth every minute - early mornings before school lunch preparation; snatched minutes in the hotel room before a show; late nights chasing a melody. These pictures I think convey the juju we are carrying. And it would still be worth it all without a Pulitzer - for all the folks in the audience and on stage who have told me that they have received something valuable from being in community together. But it sure feels beautiful to be recognized on such a level for something that has been so pure in its intention and execution."

"For Omar - who lived a life I cannot and will not ever be able to imagine - but who left us words that have given so many such inspiration," Giddens concluded.

Michael Abels

Listen to Rhiannon Giddens' new album, They're Calling Me Home here: