Pulitzer Prize

The Central Park Five is an operatic narrative retelling the true story of the five African-American and Latino teenagers wrongly convicted of raping and assaulting a white woman in 1989.

The young composer's opera, which debuted at the Los Angeles Opera, was inspired by her own experience as a survivor of sexual assault.

The opera, by the 39-year-old Shanghai native, is a searing parable of human trafficking set to a score that ranges from Renaissance choral music to punk rock.