The world premiere took place on January 27, 1972, as a joint production of the music department of Morehouse College and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, Georgia. The performance was directed by noted African-American dancer Katherine Dunham and conducted by Robert Shaw, one of the first major American conductors to hire both black and white singers for his chorale. The production was well-received by both audiences and critics.[13]

Along with Joplin’s first opera (A Guest of Honor, 1903), the orchestration notes for Treemonisha have been completely lost, so subsequent performances have been produced using orchestrations created by a variety of composers, including Thomas J. Anderson, Gunther Schuller, and most recently, Rick Benjamin.

In 1972 a production of the FIRST orchestration of Treemonisha was preformed in Atlanta Georgia. This orchestration was completed by composer T.J. Anderson, then composer in residence for the Atlanta Symphony. A recording was made by NPR of the production.