Premiere of Opera ‘27 Dollari’ based on the life of Muhammad Yunus and his journey to bring financial services to the poor women in Bangladesh takes place at Teatro della Fortuna in Fano, Italy on May 20.— Yunus Centre photo

An opera based on the life of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus titled ‘27 Dollari’ was premiered at the famous Teatro della Fortuna, Theatre of Luck, in Italian tourist city of Fano, on the western coast of Adriatic Sea.

Vilberto Stocchi, rector of the University of Urbino, Italy, invited Yunus to the premiere of the unusual opera on May 20, said a Yunus Centre release.

The opera ‘27 dollari’ represented an opportunity for entering into the world of finance by the poor, an economic culture based on ethics and economic sustainability, to enhance the ethical and moral aspects of the economy and focus on the  central role of human beings within economic systems.

It was produced by the Italian National Singers Association, in collaboration with the University of Urbino, Carlo Bo, Municipality of Fano, Fondazione Teatro della Fortuna and Imagem Srl.

Inspired  by Yunus’s  book "The Banker to the Poor"  published in 1997,  it was conceived as a subject of an opera by the composer, Paola Samoggia, directed by Andrea Mirò with Carlo Magrì and presented by the soprano Felicia Bongiovanni, ambassador of the Italian National Singers Association, and artistic director of Progetto Impresa e Cultura of the University of Urbino.

It took over eight years in preparation before bringing the opera to stage performance level.