Destination Santa Fe Opera

Look up the definition for community engagement, and you'll find lots of fantastic terms––Strategic! Interaction! Ally! But the word that tops them all is "relationship."

Host Jane Trembley chats with Kyle Gray, Santa Fe Opera's Manager of Community Relations and Government Affairs, about how he helps foster meaningful connections between SFO and government agencies, fellow arts organizations, volunteers, and Indigenous communities. The pair also explore SFO's comprehensive DEIA initiatives and why diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are critical elements of the organization's continued vitality.

"These days, it's all about partnerships," says Kyle, offering a shorthand explanation for the long list of engagement activities his office is involved in, supporting the creation of impactful artistic work. High-level meetings with municipal and federal legislative representatives are an exciting aspect of Kyle's day-to-day, but he finds the grassroots collaborations most rewarding.

"There's the Pueblo Opera Program (POP); there's music educators; there's fine arts coordinators; there's arts commissioners. It doesn't stop with Santa Fe Opera volunteers. I think everyone is an advocate for the Santa Fe Opera."

Weaving on stage artistry with off-stage engagement requires a continuous exchange of ideas and invites feedback. Kyle admits that although critiques aren't always easy to hear, they're necessary for relationship-building. He points to Opera For All Voices (OFAV) as an example of how SFO explores these issues, holds space for multiple viewpoints, and processes the impact of such world premiere productions as Hometown To The World alongside the entire SFO community.

SFO's strategic commitment to community ensures folks see their stories on stage and representation among the audiences, artisans, and administrators. "Opera can get you thinking," Kyle says, while engagement invites communities to shape the future of the world's most compelling art form.

Kyle Gray

Manager of Community Relations and Government AffairsSanta Fe Opera

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Show Notes by: Lisa Widder

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Destination Santa Fe Opera welcomes you back for our 2022 season with our host, Jane Trembley.

We're ready to take on 2022 with five brand new productions, including an international co-production a company premiere, and a world premiere.

You could say that we're a little excited.

New episodes of the podcast are coming to you all spring and summer long featuring the artists, singers, technicians, and many opera professionals working behind the scenes to bring you the stories, music and splendor onstage at the Santa Fe Opera.

Make sure you follow us on your favorite podcast app so you don't miss a beat!

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Show Notes by: Lisa Widder

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

What has all the compelling drama of a marathon finish line and the adrenaline rush of a Formula One championship? Santa Fe Opera's 2022 Season, of course!

Or so says Jane's guest. She sits down with Chief Artistic Officer David Lomelí to learn more about the incredible titles and talents set to grace the Santa Fe Opera stage next summer. The pair also charts David's path from his hometown in Mexico to the rarified stages of Europe and, finally, to his dream job here in the desert, where he's poised to break the clichés of opera programming, demystify the genre, and broaden the audience experience.

It's impossible to not respond to David's enthusiasm for all things opera. Even the logistical complications brought about by COVID-19 inspire him. "It was such a beautiful challenge," he says about the 2021 Season. "I gained so much perspective," he adds, citing the physical safety precautions put into place, as well as the collective emotional support of everyone eager for a return to what David dubbed "big voices in an American house."

So much of the front-facing activity in that house runs through the Artistic office: the Orchestra, the Apprentice Programs, the music staff, the principal artists. It's no surprise, then, that David spends his days on what he cleverly calls player personnel evaluation. "We have to manage the architecture of the sound," he says, describing how his efforts transform wish lists of individual talents into cohesive, magical casts.

Next summer promises to deliver even more signature moments beginning with Carmen, the 2022 Season opener. After such a crowd-pleasing start, it would be easy for SFO to coast on the classics but "we're an international opera house [and] there's so many stories," David says, explaining that the Santa Fe Opera's legacy of fostering new works offers audiences an opportunity to experience fresh perspectives. "I think that at the end of the day, it is [about] making the highest possible level of art that moves people to do action."

Unveiling the 2022 Season

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring:

David Lomelí

Chief Artistic Officer

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Singers aren't the only apprentices who are put through their paces at the Santa Fe Opera. Theater technicians also participate in an intermediate-to-advanced training program that offers world-class instruction and practical experience in stage operations, properties, audio & video, costumes, production/music services, makeup and wig construction, stage lighting, and scenic art.

Jane chats with Stage Crew Apprentice Larry Ortiz and Properties Run Crew Apprentice Caitlynn Sandoval about their adventures behind (and, sometimes, underneath) the scenes.

"Every night, there's always a crowd of people who stay to watch," says Larry of audience members who forgo other intermission activities so they don't miss the second show––an intricately choreographed spectacle performed by Santa Fe Opera's brilliant stage crew. Unlike other venues where set changes take place behind a curtain, the action's on full display in The Crosby Theatre.

Larry welcomes the chance to share this demanding aspect of opera with audiences, a mental and physical game of beat-the-clock. The work is grueling. He and his fellow technicians often log 80 hours of work a week between rehearsals and performances. The reward, however, is more than simply professional. "When you really don't think you have a lot in you and you just do them," he says of the changeovers, "I like the...not the struggle, but the pushing yourself. I think that's cool. I enjoy that."

Caitlynn Sandoval agrees. "It's just so fun to come to work every day and love what you do and love who you work with!"

The action is swift backstage. As a props apprentice, Caitlynn's attention is focused on making sure everything––from magic trunks to prop guns––is set properly and used safely. But this second-year apprentice isn't limiting her future career plans to a single department just yet. Instead, she's busy exploring every aspect of technical stage production while enjoying the moments unique to this Santa Fe Opera summer.

"I think we all lost the feeling that we all get when the curtain opens or the orchestra starts tuning," she Caitlynn says of last season's pandemic postponement. "I never want to lose this again."

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring:

Larry Ortiz, Stage Crew Apprentice

Caitlynn Sandoval, Properties Run Crew Apprentice

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Audiences and staff aren't the only ones excited for opera's return to the desert this season. Jane Trembley chats with soprano Teresa Perrotta and bass Allen Michael Jones, two performers in the 2021 Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers.

Teresa and Allen Michael take listeners inside this "summer camp" for singers which is internationally recognized as one of the first, and most exceptional programs of its kind. They share stories about the audition process, performance opportunities, and the moments that make singing in front of live audiences again so special.

Teresa Perrotta is busy. When she's not hiking desert trails (a first for this native Floridian) or training for her fight scene as Helena in SFO's production of A Midsummer's Night Dream, Teresa's collaborating with the Apprentice Program's world-renowned guest artists and instructors. "We get to work with a lot of different people and make new connections," she says. "So, very busy. Lots of singing! But there's a combination of performing and really learning about our craft which is really nice."

Allen Michael Jones agrees. A relative newcomer to opera, he's quickly cultivated a love for the endurance, emotion, and vulnerability that this art form demands.

In addition to his Santa Fe Opera Chorus duties, Allen Michael performs the role of Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin. Although the Apprentice Program's class and performance structure is intense, the rewards vastly outweigh the rigors. "You know, [it's] a lot to do in a little amount of time and there's no better feeling than knowing that I've actually accomplished something," he says, adding, "I always say to myself, 'I don't know how I'm going to pull this one off this time, but I know I will.'"

Even with the added work of preparing scenes for the Apprentice Scenes showcase, Teresa and Allen Michael have both found time to sample Santa Fe's glorious cuisine. So, which one made a secret confession in the great chile debate?

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring:

Teresa Perrotta, Soprano

Allen Michael Jones, Bass

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Soprano Angel Blue makes her Santa Fe Opera debut in concert Saturday, August 7, 2021.

Jane caught a spare moment with Angel upon her arrival in Santa Fe to learn more about who she is on stage, off stage, and in the practice room. Angel also shares strong opinions and guidance for young singers, who may fall into the comparison trap with "the greats" who've come before them.

Angel's Bio:

Angel Blue has emerged in recent seasons as one of the most important sopranos before the public today. On September 23, 2019 she opened the Metropolitan Opera's 2019/2020 season as Bess in a new production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. These performances followed her internationally praised French Opera debut and role debut as Floria Tosca at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July of 2019.

She has also been praised for performances in many other theaters, such as the Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Theater an der Wien, Oper Frankfurt, and San Diego Opera. In the current season, Ms. Blue will appear in concert at the Carmel Bach Festival and in galas in St. Petersburg and Santa Fe, with fall performances of Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Mentioned in this Episode:

HiHo Kids meet an opera singer video

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring: Angel Blue, American soprano

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Welcoming opera-lovers back to the Santa Fe Opera this summer requires a massive behind-the-scenes effort, much of which is coordinated by the front-of-house team. Jane Trembley talks preparations and protocols with Julie Wheeler, the Santa Fe Opera's audience services director. Their conversation sheds light (and a few tears) on the grace, gratitude, and overwhelming emotions accompanying this season's return to the desert stage.

The 2021 Season comes with a host of new challenges. Few know better than Julie. She and key colleagues across the company have spent the last 16 months researching, planning, and implementing many of the modifications SFO has put into place this season. However, she credits the entire staff with making the adjustments look and feel effortless. From newly installed touchless technology to seamless social distancing measures, this season's goal, says Julie, remains the same as always: to create an environment in which audiences can commune with opera surrounded by gorgeous natural scenery. "It's just going to be one of those things where I think what they can expect is what we've been talking about - that sense of being out and being someplace you know and love and experiencing your joy."

Joy is Julie's beacon. It colors memories of her first visit to Santa Fe, the one in which she visited her mother and never left. It flavors her overwhelming penchant for red chile (sorry, team green). Joy is also the force behind her compassion for ticket holders as she and her team contacted every single one last year to share that the pandemic had forced SFO into an unprecedented, season-long closure.

As summer gets underway, Julie's excited to finally see how guests respond to SFO's new initiatives, including the nightly, on-site Simulcasts of every single show. "For people who maybe aren't ready yet to step foot into a theater with, you know, 15- to 1700 people, it gives them an opportunity to view from their car and tailgate and still have that wonderful experience." No matter where they're seated this season, Julie's efforts ensure that audiences will rediscover their joy, safely.

Listeners can find the restaurants recommended in this episode below.

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Julie Wheeler, Audience Services Director, Santa Fe Opera

Atrisco Cafe & Bar

The Pantry

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

Magic, mischief, and mismatched lovers are at cross purposes when the Santa Fe Opera premieres one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies. Choreographer and dancer Reed Luplau says there's no better setting for A Midsummer Night's Dream than our glorious desert stage.

Host Jane Trembley learns more about Reed's fascinating journey from his mother's dance studio on Australia's West Coast to some of the world's biggest venues. Reed also shares insight into his preparations for playing Puck, the fairy whose pranks cause so much confusion, as well as his process for crafting stories through movement. The conversation ends with Reed's must-see, do, and eat recommendations when in Santa Fe, a list that's sure to please locals and first-timers alike.

"We're really trying to see and push how far Puck can be... how dangerous he could be, but with an innocence to him," Reed says, offering listeners a glimpse into the collaborative relationship between choreographer and director Netia Jones.

In his quest to bring fresh energy to Shakespeare's 400-year-old original, Reed gave thorough consideration to the complex, often cheeky relationship between his impish fairy and King Oberon, to whom he is the court jester. Puck's ethereal nature and juvenile antics may prompt comparisons to Peter Pan, but Reed has another character on his mind heading into rehearsals: Randall Boggs, the shape-shifting villain from Monsters, Inc. "I don't know if I'm giving too much away," he laughs, "but, for now, I think it's playful, but it's not in an evil way."

Although A Midsummer Night's Dream marks Reed's first Shakespearian experience, this accomplished, joyful performer is no stranger to Santa Fe. He made his debut here in 2013 playing Bosie in Santa Fe Opera's world premiere of Oscar, a residency that instilled in him a great appreciation for the desert. His list of area favorites includes Lake Abiquíu for outdoor adventure and dining on the patio at Gabriel's. As fond as he is of those spots, Reed's most cherished memories of Santa Fe are those made on The Crosby Theatre stage. "The acoustics at Santa Fe are just incredible! My favorite part is the water," he says, referencing the small reflecting pool in front of the stage, often lovingly referred to as the moat. "It's so gorgeous, and it adds another element to the scenery of where you are."

Listeners can find Reed's list of Santa Fe favorites in the credits below.

Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring: Reed Luplau, Actor & Choreographer

Abiquíu Lake, New Mexico

Gabriel's Restaurant

Cowgirl BBQ

Harry's Roadhouse

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Rising star Avery Amereau lends her lush contralto voice in the role of Olga in the Santa Fe Opera's new production of Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin's story of rakes and romantic mistakes set to glorious music by Tchaikovsky.

While this marks the singer's Santa Fe Opera debut, Avery is well acquainted with Olga and New Mexico's great chile debate. Host Jane Trembley chats with her about the perks of possessing an authentic contralto voice, the singer's less than traditional introduction to opera, and a favorite (shocking!) memory from her Metropolitan Opera debut.

Avery also shares wise words with novice singers about staying true to one's voice and recommends thematic elements audiences should note while attending this sumptuous opera.

"There's an idea that contralto roles are usually, like, old ladies or nurses," Avery laughs. Contraltos - singers whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type - are often cast as evil sisters or, as Avery likes to say, the witches and britches of the opera world. She sees teenage Olga as a bit of a flirt, a social butterfly - characteristics that will require a fresh perspective from Avery when the two meet again.

"It'll be a bit more challenging in that way than when I was at Julliard because I've lived so much more life since then," she says, including becoming a new mother. In addition to heralding the singer's debut with the Santa Fe Opera, Eugene Onegin also marks Avery's return to performances after the pandemic. "I think it's very fitting to come back to this role," she says. "It has a very special significance for me."

Last seen at the Santa Fe Opera in 2002, Eugene Onegin allows audiences to experience Avery's vibrant contralto in Russian. The feat required her to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and make sense of consonant clusters and diphthong pronunciations not found in standard American English. Tchaikovsky's soaring score is worth the effort, though.

"It's a good mix," Avery says of Olga. "I have a duet; I have an aria; I have a quartet; I have an ensemble. So, I get a nice smattering of everything possible." Audiences will, too.

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Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring:

Avery Amereau, American Contralto

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.

Celebrated countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will channel Dracula and Dionysus when he makes his Santa Fe Opera debut this season in the world premiere of The Lord of Cries.

Host (and uber fan-girl) Jane Trembley chats with Anthony about what it's like having a lead role crafted especially for him by composer John Corigliano, with libretto by Mark Adamo. The pair also discuss why this heart-stopping production is the perfect opera with which to entice audiences back to the Crosby Theatre.

For those scratching their heads at the term countertenor, you know it when you hear it - and you've heard it. Think Prince, the BeeGees, and even Justin Timberlake "just done in a more full-throated way," Anthony explains.

He traces the style's origins back to the castrati popular in 16th-century opera. Those performers were widely revered as the rockstars of their time. The vocal range of countertenors is our modern equivalent, minus the castration, of course. Their high-voltage sound lends itself well to characters who occupy a more mysterious realm. "Contained within the countertenor's voice are all of these questions of, really, identity as it relates to gender, as it relates to sexuality," says Anthony, adding, "now we live in a time when everyone is thinking in a more open-minded way."

The Lord of Cries takes full advantage of Anthony's dynamic talents. John Corigliano, whom Anthony has known for 20 years, wrote his first opera, The Ghost of Versailles, in 1991. He hadn't written a second opera, until now.

The piece poses complex questions about the human condition against an unsettling, ethereal backdrop. It's a thrilling and terrifying space to play in as there's no precedent, no previous productions from which Anthony might draw insight. "It's like having a suit that is tailor-made for your own body."

As for making his debut on the legendary desert stage in the lead role of a new work, Anthony says, "Santa Fe has been at the forefront of bringing American opera to fruition, you know, new operas, new composers, and making it happen, and that's been so thrilling."

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Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring:

Anthony Roth Costanzo, American Countertenor

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera.