Key Change
The Santa Fe Opera
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Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Key Change episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Key Change for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Key Change episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
11/13/24 • 37 min
One of the greatest gifts you can offer a teen is confidence. The other? A process for refining that raw self-assurance into an impressive talent and invaluable life skill. But where to start? At the beginning, of course!
Join Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia as they happily infiltrate Orientation Day for the Young Voices program, one of several prestigious youth-focused initiatives at Santa Fe Opera.
Get to know this year’s cohort as they share their first-day impressions and program goals. Key Change favorites Amy Owens, director of the Young Voices program, and Charles Gamble, director of Community Engagement, also stop by to preview the program's curriculum and performance opportunities culminating in a much anticipated public recital.
"They're coming into a good environment for nurturing," beams Charles as he watches 17 of the 19 high schoolers begin to bond with one another and absorb the creative energy around them. After today, each student will participate in private voice lessons before reuniting for retreats and ensemble work.
Young Voices is an intense program. "So, I've built in some things that make it a little bit easier for them,” Amy assures us. Does she have any advice for this year's cohort? "Whatever is meant to happen––whether you pursue a career in music or something else––that's gonna happen no matter where you go," she offers. "Taking a little bit of pressure off and letting them experience the joy of interacting with their process, with music, is what I hope this program can provide them within a season of stress."
FEATURING
Amy Owens, director of the Young Voices program, Santa Fe Opera
Charles Gamble, director of Community Engagement, Santa Fe Opera
Andrea Klunder, producer, Key Change Podcast
Young Voices Of Santa Fe Opera 2024/25: Rylee Baca, Cianna (Gigi) Clay, Kadiah Dragone-Gutierrez, Landen Kessler, William Landahl, Gavin Lopez, Eleanor Lucas, Ava Mitchie, Alexander Nicolas Neas, Alexandra Raskin, Nicolas Taccetti
Young Voices Studio: Petra Archuletta, Iris Butcher, Rose Gubelmann, Brooklyn Moeno, Elsa Dhonau-Egan, Seraphina Goldstein, Ida Shelton, Jade Zeno-Neal
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Opera Storytellers Summer Camp | Santa Fe Opera
Opera Makes Sense | Santa Fe Opera
RELATED EPISODES
Harmony In Process: The Young Voices Of Santa Fe Opera With Amy “Process” Owens
Making Learning Sticky: Creative Compassion For Kids And Educators Through Opera With Charles Gamble
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and an Opera America Innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit SantaFeOpera.org. And for more Key Change, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.
We love an encore! And this one's got it all: audition trends, futurecasting, and pragmatic advice for young opera talent. Key Change co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora also serve up plenty of musical memories, behind-the-scenes intel, and a little love for the Santa Fe Opera as a venue as they continue their visit with Chandler Johnson.
When we last met Chandler, he had introduced us to career paths less traveled. "There's more to this business than just singing,” he continues. Chandler knows this truth better than most. After discovering opera in his early teens, he pivoted from singing to arts administration. Chandler credits his years spent auditioning and performing for exposing him to career opportunities beyond the stage.
“Singing was my path to get to this place,” he confides, before launching into an impressive list of creative, collaborative opportunities within the opera ecosystem. "You can go into development, marketing and PR, media and AV. You can go into costuming and set design," he says, adding, "Having the experience of being a singer informs where you pivot in your life and in this art form."
As for the art form in question, Chandler is not one to tinker with what works. "I wouldn't change anything about opera. I truly love the glitz, the glamor, the opulence, the stories, the chaos. I love it all!" he muses before offering one final piece of advice. "We just have to keep doing good art––keep doing good opera!––and the people will come."
KEY CHANGE RECOMMENDED PLAYLIST
Taking Care of the Art with Chandler Johnson
What’s Opera to a Bunch of High School Students? Young Voices, “The New Crop”
Harmony in Process: The Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera with Amy "Process" Owens
FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE
Chandler Johnson, Director, Apprentice Program For Singers | Santa Fe Opera
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Apprentice Program For Singers | Santa Fe Opera
Preview Dinners | Santa Fe Opera
University Of New Mexico Opera Theatre | UNM Music Department
The Baltimore County Honor Choir
Messa di requiem | Giuseppe Verdi
The Defiant Requiem Foundation
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera, Department of Community Engagement & Education.
Share your favorite opera moments and questions with Community Engagement: [email protected]
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Anna Garcia & Olga Perez Flora
Audio Engineering: Collin Ungerleider & Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous support of the Hankins Foundation, Principal Education Sponsor of the Santa Fe Opera....
Making Learning Sticky: Creative Compassion for Kids & Educators Through Opera with Charles Gamble
Key Change
04/17/24 • 31 min
We're taking an Opera For All Voices-adjacent excursion to the realm of wiggly kiddos, innovative teachers, and fresh vocabulary words, highlighting the power of playful arts integration.
Join Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia with special guest Charles Gamble, Santa Fe Opera's Director Of School Programs, as they introduce two of Santa Fe Opera's most dynamic community engagement programs: ALTO: Active Learning Through Opera, a multi-session residency within the Santa Fe Public Schools that incorporates creative arts to make learning delightfully sticky; and NMArt Professional Learning Workshops For Educators, professional development workshops that elevate culturally responsive, student-centered teaching and learning via arts-integrated strategies.
We've all had that one teacher who coaxed us out of our comfort zone and into the world of possibility. That teacher was Miss Moretti of the third grade for a shy, socially awkward Charles. She gave him permission to engage with his artistic passions and live more fearlessly. "It was transformative," he explains. "Those experiences with remarkable teachers helped me find my place alongside the other theater and chorus kids."
We're grateful to that long line of encouraging adults. Without them, Charles may never have found a creative home at SFO. As Director of School Programs, Charles is tirelessly pursuing opportunities to make learning accessible and more operatic.
"Opera has it all. Poetry and dance, theater, media, arts, music. It's all there," he marvels. "There's an understanding that as human beings, we're naturally curious. By drawing the arts into the classroom, we're tapping into that natural curiosity and deepening the engagement that students––and their teachers!––have with whatever else they're learning in school."
To Learn More About Becoming a Teaching Artist: https://www.santafeopera.org/alto-faqs/
For more information, please contact:
Charles Gamble Director of School Programs [email protected]
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
ALTO: Active Learning Through Opera | Santa Fe Opera
NMArt Professional Learning Workshops For Educators | Santa Fe Opera
RELATED EPISODES
Key Change: Telling Hard Truths
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and an Opera America Innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit SantaFeOpera.org. And for more Key Change, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.
06/12/24 • 37 min
It takes a village - and multiple revisions! - to mount a modern, original opera. Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia journey to an orchestral workshop for The Pigeon Keeper, a first for Opera For All Voices (OFAV)!
Imagine a stage filled with an eight-member student orchestra, four principal singers, and a women's chorus. Drop in the composer, librettist, and members of the OFAV team. Truncate the rehearsal period and invite an audience for a live presentation plus a feedback session. Now, you understand the excitement and angst surrounding an orchestral workshop.
Andrea reconnects with Stephanie Fleischmann, librettist, and David Hanlon, composer, the imaginative duo behind this poignant story of home and hospitality in a time of conflict and need, along with Kelly Kuo, music director & conductor. We also hear from the extended community of artists and students of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, who are shepherding The Pigeon Keeper from page to stage–with Daniel Millan, clarinetist; Nathan Harah, Kosmo; Ava Hawkins, ensemble; Jamiyah Hudson, ensemble; and Rada Grin, mother of Nathan Harah.
“As people who’ve been fully invested in this project, it's often very difficult to be objective about what’s actually being communicated [by the piece],” says Kelly, who notes that university collaborations, like this one with the U-M, provide the creative team with invaluable contextual information. Workshops also allow students to interact with professional companies. “The chorus is made up of undergraduates volunteering time outside their own classwork and their other choruses,” marvels Kelly. “It says a lot about their commitment to this project.”
“It's speaking to their hearts,” observes Stephanie. “That makes me feel like the message of the piece is reaching all people.”
But how did the audience respond? You’ll have to wait until our next episode to find out.
Thank you to Caitlin Lynch, Jayce Ogren, and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
Interviews with David, Stephanie & Kelly and Nathan & Rada recorded by Dave Schall at DSA Villa Valentine Studio, outside Ann Arbor, MI. Additional voice recording by Ice Cream Sound Studios, Los Angeles, CA.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Contemporary Directions Ensemble
THE PIGEON KEEPER CREATIVE TEAM
Stephanie Fleischmann, Librettist
Kelly Kuo, Music Director And Conductor
RELATED EPISODES
Season 2 Episode 4 - Hope Is the Thing With Feathers: A first look at The Pigeon Keeper
Season 4 Episode 9 - Competing Interest: How Do You Workshop a New Opera?
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and an Opera America Innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit SantaFeOpera.org. And for more Key Change, visit
02/28/24 • 48 min
It’s all systems go for season five of Key Change! But before we commence with the anniversary celebrations, co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia dust off the time machine for a whirlwind tour of seasons past. Think of this episode as part process evaluation––an appraisal of Opera For All Voices (OFAV), the Santa Fe Opera initiative committed to co-commissioning and co-producing new, diverse operatic works––and part indispensable playlist for repeat audiences and newcomers alike, covering the essential artistic and emotional moments that have made Key Change an award-winning podcast.
Since 2015, OFAV has sought to answer the question: How does one of the oldest art forms remain relevant in an increasingly perilous landscape of aging audiences, funding shortages, budget cuts, and political polarization?
One answer is to produce works that reflect our modern conversations around race, social justice, accountability, and understanding. Key Change offers a complimentary option: Amplify the diverse stories of those involved in the commissions, be they artists, production assistants, or folks with firsthand knowledge of events reimagined for the stage.
So, how are we doing? “I think it's kind of amazing how, little by little through the seasons, we’ve touched on the creation of stories being told by people finding their voice,” Anna says, noting that those voices speak truth to power in wildly bold and creative ways.
Key Change has cataloged four seasons of redemptive journeys and harrowing real-life stories while envisioning a future of genuinely collaborative artistic endeavors. We invite you to stay tuned for what’s next.
RELATED EPISODES
S1E2 - What's In A Name? The Origin Story Of Opera For All Voices
S2E2 - A Seat At The Table: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, And Opera - Part I
S2E3 - Bring Your Folding Chair: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, And Opera - Part II
S2E6 - The Universe Is Made Of Stories: A Conversation With Peter Sellars
S3E4 - Singing A Call To Action, Is This America?
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and an Opera America Innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit SantaFeOpera.org. And for more Key Change, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.
05/01/24 • 40 min
What does an award-winning, multi-disciplinary artist, dynamic educator, and former Sweet Potato do for an encore? She brings that boundless energy and collaborative spirit to her new Santa Fe Opera role, fueled by a deep passion for opera and music education.
Co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia roll out a virtual red carpet welcome for Amy Owens, Director of the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera Program. Get to know this exuberant, optimistic talent and learn more about the program under her stewardship. Andrea, Anna, and Amy also explore the profound community impact of two beloved SFO programs: Opera Makes Sense, a storytelling “playdate” with operatic roots for children ages 3 to 5, and Opera Storytellers Summer Camp, an engaging week-long summer jamboree for 3rd through 6th graders that culminates in the performance of an original 10-minute opera.
But back to the aforementioned Sweet Potato. What does a tuber have to do with Amy’s plans for the next iteration of Young Voices? “Being a part of Sweet Potato Kicks The Sun (the very first commission of Opera For All Voices) reinforced for me the possibilities of our art form,” she says, reflecting on the role she originated. Sweet Potato’s complex, modern score reinforced for Amy the limitless possibilities embedded in opera’s creative process. She wants to expand on those opportunities by diversifying the art form’s artistic and audience outlook, thus ensuring opera’s future. “We can prioritize this kind of work with the values of inclusivity, integrity, and storytelling. [That] gives me much hope that I still carry with me.”
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera Program
RELATED EPISODES
Interpreting Ambiguity Sweet Potato Kicks The Sun
A Closer Look At Our First Commision Sweet Potato Kicks The Sun
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and an Opera America Innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit SantaFeOpera.org. And for more Key Change, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.
Hometown to the World Debuts on Broadway
Key Change
03/29/23 • 41 min
If a chorus of 12 teens can provide compelling commentary on immigration enforcement from the stage of a venerable performing arts center in Santa Fe, how might ten times that number of voices impact the debate? From a Broadway venue that has welcomed some of the twentieth century’s most influential social justice visionaries?
Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows-Fineberg and Anna Garcia pilot the time machine east to find out, setting a course for the 2022 premiere of Hometown to the World at New York’s storied Town Hall.
Adding their insights to this aural postcard are Hometown’s composer Laura Kaminsky and librettist Kimberly Reed; Melay Araya, artistic director at The Town Hall; several chorus members from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts, as well as the audience.
Hometown––an original work commissioned by Santa Fe Opera for its Opera For All Voices (OFAV) initiative––follows the events of a 2008 raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, IA. The opera explores themes of religion, acceptance, and community, igniting a communal desire to create a more equitable world. “People that are already empathetic, they need fuel,” says Melay. “They need the refocusing that Laura and Kim provide in language and song to think larger and to address these issues, not just on the granular level, but as spiritual and ethical questions.”
Hometown closes with a Hebrew call to action, delivered by that sprawling chorus of young, hopeful voices: Tikkun Olam! Repair the world!
FEATURING
Laura Kaminsky - Composer, Hometown to the World
Kimberly Reed - Librettist, Hometown to the World
Melay Araya - Artistic Director, The Town Hall
A chorus comprised of 100+ public high school students from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts
RELATED EPISODES
Season 1, Episode 6 “Hometown to the World” - Hometown’s Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed on telling history and collaboration.
Season 2, Episode 9 “America Is Impossible Without Us” - Revisiting Hometown’s story, structure, music, and what it means to be an American during the San Francisco workshop.
Season 3, Episode 3 “Responding to the World” - with Stage Director Kristine McIntyre and Dramaturg Cori Ellison.
Season 3, Episode 8 “Bridging Communities with Carmen Flórez-Mansi” - with Chorus Master Carmen Flórez-Mansi.
Season 4, Episode 1 “This Doesn’t Happen Without Audience” - Andrea prepares for the world premiere in Santa Fe with core members of its artistic team, young performers, and the most influential collaborator: the audience.
Season 4, Episode 2 “Influence and Inclusion: The Impact of Hometown to the World with Estevan, Ely, and Francesco of the Youth Chorus” - Post-show reactions from artists, creators, collaborators, and the audience buoyed by musical excerpts from Hometown’s premiere at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe.
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W Mellon foundation, and an Opera America innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit us at SantaFeOpera.org.
02/22/24 • 1 min
It's season 5! This season, we're inviting you, our favorite listeners, on a journey through time and space -- traveling back in time to the origins of Key Change and Opera For All Voices and forward into the future of boundless possibilities.
This spring, Andrea Fellows Feinberg and Anna Garcia take you through through the community engagement portal to hear from the voices transforming the future of opera.
And in the fall, they'll offer a backstage pass to latest Opera For All Voices commissions as we continue to shift the conversation about what opera is and what it can be.
New episodes of Key Change are coming to your favorite podcast app this spring and summer 2024.
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Prouction Support: Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W Mellon foundation, and an Opera America innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit us at SantaFeOpera.org.
04/12/23 • 48 min
Roadtrip! After many long months of necessary virtual collaboration, the creative team behind The Pigeon Keeper, a Santa Fe Opera Opera For All Voices (OFAV) commission, finally got to spread their wings for an emotional workshop in San Francisco.
Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia discover what it was like to have everyone (well, almost everyone) in the same room for the very first time––featuring composer David Hanlon, librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, stage director Mary Birnbaum, music director Kelly Kuo, dramaturg Cori Ellison, Ruth Nott, consultant for OFAV, plus Elinore (Ellie) Pett-Ridge Hennessy, Azaria Stauffer-Barney, and Ruby Recht-Appel, all members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC).
"Stephanie and I really love working and responding in the moment," says David, excited to sit beside The Pigeon Keeper's librettist in real time and space.
For those unfamiliar with the process of developing new operatic works, workshops put the pieces and performers together for a rigorous, accelerated series of rehearsals, and what some may call a smash-through – the first time the piece is heard by the artists in person all the way through, without stopping (even if there are mistakes.) Then the piece is presented to an invited audience of folks who may be interested to produce or present the opera in the future. “We're always trying things out, which is really exciting. But,” David admits, “there's a lot of flux to that.”
Workshops are, by their nature, intense. Witnessing The Pigeon Keeper live, with its fairytale-like exploration of chosen family and mass migration, profoundly impacted participants of this workshop, especially members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC), whose voices add poignant commentary to the storytelling. "I'm not gonna lie to you. I read through the music, and I started tearing up," recalls Ellie. "It just feels like home."
And it feels one step closer to realizing The Pigeon Keeper as a fully staged production.
FEATURING
David Hanlon - Composer, The Pigeon Keeper
Stephanie Fleischmann - Librettist, The Pigeon Keeper
Mary Birnbaum - Stage Director
Kelly Kuo - Music Director
Cori Ellison - Dramaturg
Ruth Nott - Consultant, Opera for All Voices
Elinore (Ellie) Pett-Ridge Hennessy, Azaria Stauffer-Barney, and Ruby Recht-Appel - Members, San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) led by Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe
RELATED EPISODES
KCP0204: Hope Is the Thing With Feathers: A first look at The Pigeon Keeper
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, the Andrew W Mellon foundation, and an Opera America innovation Grant supported by the Anne & Gordon Getty Foundation.
To learn more about Opera For All Voices, visit us at SantaFeOpera.org.
06/26/24 • 41 min
To workshop a new opera in front of an audience is a little like agreeing to a trust fall: at some point, you’ve just got to surrender to the unknown and... trust.
Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia return to the orchestral workshop for The Pigeon Keeper, a collaboration between Santa Fe Opera’s Opera For All Voices (OFAV) initiative and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD).
Andrea and Anna introduce folks to Caitlin Lynch, Assistant Professor of Music at U-M, and Jayce Ogren, Director of Contemporary Directions Ensemble at U-M, the visionary duo responsible for bringing The Pigeon Keeper to the campus. Together they go behind the scenes of OperaLab, their new initiative to connect SMTD students with opportunities to workshop and perform contemporary music from living composers.
They also explore how the themes of the opera connect to modern realities with student musicians; learn about community support for refugees, asylum seekers, and others seeking humanitarian protection with Freedom House Detroit; and find out what advice principal artists would give to future cast members.
The episode ends with audience reflections on loss, exclusion, and opera as a catalyst for hard conversation. “The arts,” said one workshop goer, “can facilitate tangible action, dialogue, and change that can come from this emotionally resonating work.” It’s insights like this that keep OFAV commissioning new works and collaborating in inventive ways.
Learn more about Freedom House Detroit at freedomhousedetroit.org.
FEATURING:
Rebecca Clark - Cover for Orsia
Ava Hawkins - Ensemble
Jamiyah Hudson - Ensemble
Tyrese Byrd - Cover for The Pigeon Keeper
Caitlin Lynch - Assistant Professor of Music at U-M
Jayce Ogren - Director of Contemporary Directions Ensemble at U-M
David Hanlon - Composer, The Pigeon Keeper
Daniel Millan - Clarinet
Lulu Nester, Engagement Coordinator, Freedom House Detroit
David Siebert, volunteer, Freedom House Detroit
Nathan Harah - Kosmo
Bernard Holcomb - The Pigeon Keeper, The Widow Grocer, The Schoolteacher
And numerous students and audience members.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Contemporary Directions Ensemble
Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio
The House On Mango Street opera
University Philharmonia Orchestra
THE PIGEON KEEPER CREATIVE TEAM:
Stephanie Fleischmann, Librettist
Kelly Kuo, Music Director And Conductor
RELATED EPISODES:
Season 2 Episode 4 - Hope Is the Thing With Feathers: A first look at The Pigeon Keeper
Season 4 Episode 9 - Competing Interest: How Do You Workshop a New Opera?
Season 5 Episode 5 - Music Born Out of a Modern Experience: The Pigeon Keeper Orchestral Workshop
***
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera in collaboration with Opera for All Voices.
Produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Andrea Fellows Fineberg & Anna Garcia
Audio Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, m...
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FAQ
How many episodes does Key Change have?
Key Change currently has 56 episodes available.
What topics does Key Change cover?
The podcast is about Music, Opera, Artists, Startups, Nonprofit, Podcasts, Arts, Innovation, Diversity and Performing Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Key Change?
The episode title 'From Gardening to Greeting Guests, Volunteers Run the World! with Marissa Aurora, Artist & Volunteer Liaison' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Key Change?
The average episode length on Key Change is 31 minutes.
How often are episodes of Key Change released?
Episodes of Key Change are typically released every 13 days, 14 hours.
When was the first episode of Key Change?
The first episode of Key Change was released on May 4, 2018.
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