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

SMTD OperaLab

Contemporary Directions Ensemble

Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio

Freedom House Detroit

The House On Mango Street opera

University Philharmonia Orchestra

THE PIGEON KEEPER CREATIVE TEAM:

David Hanlon, Composer

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 4 - In a Room Making Music With People: The Pigeon Keeper with Stephanie Fleischmann and David Hanlon

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, 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.

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

San Francisco Boys Chorus

Contemporary Directions Ensemble

Freedom House

THE PIGEON KEEPER CREATIVE TEAM

Stephanie Fleischmann, Librettist

David Hanlon, Composer

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 4 - In a Room Making Music With People: The Pigeon Keeper with Stephanie Fleischmann and David Hanlon

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 SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

Cue the lights! It’s time to illuminate a vital yet often invisible component of life at Santa Fe Opera: volunteerism. Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia chatted with Marissa Aurora, Santa Fe Opera’s volunteer liaison, on her first anniversary in the role. And what a year it’s been! 

Marissa, a multi-discipline artist and radio DJ, has worked hard to revitalize relationships between the Opera and its volunteers. She’s also introduced an exciting new performing arts production internship in collaboration with Northern New Mexico College. 

So, how do you quantify the generous contributions of time and talent to organizational well-being? Maybe it’s better to ask why volunteer in the first place? “It's something that has really helped me find meaning and connection with the community, tap deeper into myself, and keep me ticking,” Marissa says. It’s safe to say that the 200+ folks who volunteer their time, talents, and energy to the Opera on an annual basis enjoy similar fulfillment.

Marissa’s holistic approach captures the optimism and desire for accessibility that defines the post-pandemic era of volunteerism. “I view my job as building relationships,” she says. The new internship further supports that goal on a deeply communal level. “There is recruitment (for the Opera’s prestigious apprenticeship programs) happening far from Santa Fe. Our idea was to take people that are local to the community, maybe coming from underserved places, and give them this opportunity to learn really valuable skills for their future careers directly from our staff.” 

There are many ways to contribute your talents and time to the Santa Fe Opera. Why not fill out an application and see how you can get connected?

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Northern New Mexico College

KMRD-LP 96.9 FM

***

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.

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

Opera Makes Sense

Opera Storytellers Sumer Camp

Opera For All Voices

New Mexico Philharmonic

The Sullivan Foundation

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.

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

Destination Santa Fe Opera: Life Skills, Music Making, and Billy Bad the Billionaire: Youth Opera Programs with Amy Owens and Charles Gamble

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.

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

S4E4 - Story With Purpose: The Origin Of The Pueblo Opera Cultural Council With Renee Royal And Claudene A. Martinez

S3E4 - Singing A Call To Action, Is This America?

S4E2 - Influence And Inclusion: The Impact Of Hometown To The World With Estevan, Ely, and Francesco Of The Youth Chorus

S4E7 - 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.

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.

Seven years ago, Santa Fe Opera started a conversation that would reverberate throughout American Opera, shaping this celebrated art form into something more reflective of the world in which it's created. Today, Opera For All Voices (OFAV) commissions have surpassed even our wildest storytelling expectations. 

Key Change co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia tuck into the time machine for a season-ending trip around the OFAV universe, revisiting the initiative's greatest hits and offering fans a glimpse at what's to come––with Ruth Nott, consultant, Opera for All Voices; Brent Michael Davids, composer; and Mary Kathryn Nagle J.D., playwright, attorney, and member of Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

OFAV began with a simple premise. "We wanted to see what other voices were available and had interesting stories to tell," Ruth explains. So, how'd we do? 

In the past 18 months alone, OFAV has produced two world premieres in Santa Fe, This Little Light Of Mine and Hometown To The World, a groundbreaking workshop in San Francisco for The Pigeon Keeper, and OFAV on Broadway featuring Hometown To The World. We've also strengthened our bond with the Pueblo Opera Cultural Council.

While reminiscing is fun, the Key Change time machine is actually a forward-focused intergalactic vehicle. Brent and Mary Kathryn have plotted next season's creative journey from pueblo to cosmos. "It'll be one of the very first operas that centers a Native woman protagonist," hints Mary Kathryn. "We're asking questions that go far beyond Indian country or the history of the relationship between the United States and Native people. We're asking questions that pertain to all of humanity, and what is our relationship to the universe."

Catch a ride for Season Five coming soon!

FEATURING

Brent Michael Davids - Composer, Member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community

Mary Kathryn Nagle J.D. - Attorney at Law/Playwright/Screenwriter and Member Of Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma

Ruth Nott - Consultant, Opera for All Voices

RELATED EPISODES

KCP0404 - Story With Purpose: The Origin of the Pueblo Opera Cultural Council with Renee Roybal and Claudene A. Martinez

KCP0405 - Spark of Imagination: Generations of the Pueblo Opera Program with Sonja & Seth Martine

***

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.

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

KCP0404 - In a Room Making Music With People: The Pigeon Keeper with Stephanie Fleischmann and David Hanlon

***

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.

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.

What do you know about the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer? Chances are, not much. That's about to change. 

Co-hosts Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia dust off the Key Change time machine for a trip back through time and place to the real-life inspiration for This Little Light of Mine (TLLoM), the modern operatic masterpiece commissioned by Santa Fe Opera's Opera For All Voices initiative. Good thing this ride is roomy because joining them are two women who can claim a direct connection to Mrs. Hamer: Jacqueline "Cookie" Hamer Flakes, Mrs. Hamer's last surviving daughter, and LaToya Ratlieff, Mrs. Hamer's grand-niece. 

Mrs. Hamer was born to sharecroppers early in the last century when life for an undereducated Black woman was difficult at best. She endured unimaginable cruelty at the hands of white people who sought to block voting access for folks who looked like her. While those encounters battered her body, her powerful, passionate voice never broke. And yet, many are still unaware of Mrs. Hamer’s contributions to the Civil Rights movement or the rousing, emotional speech she delivered at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Cookie shares painful, visceral details of Mrs. Hamer’s life and poignant memories of her spirit in celebration of a life committed to community––and as a reminder that the fight for civil rights is still ours today. 

This transformative voyage also features familiar voices from the TLLoM creative team: composer Chandler Carter, librettist Diana Solomon-Glover, music director Jeri Lynne Johnson, stage director Beth Greenberg, and stage manager Laurel McIntyre. Charles Gamble, SFO's director of school programs, Devin DeVargas, Pojoaque Valley High School choir teacher, and members of the Pojoaque Valley Choir complete this episode’s passenger roster.

This episode is dedicated in memoriam to Jacqueline "Cookie" Hamer Flakes (September 22, 1966 - March 27, 2023).

FEATURING

Jacqueline "Cookie" Hamer Flakes

LaToya Ratlieff

Diana Solomon-Glover – Librettist

Chandler Carter – Composer

Jeri Lynne Johnson – Conductor & Music Director

Beth Greenberg – Stage Director

Laurel McIntyre – Stage Manager

Charles Gamble – SFO Director of School Programs

Devin DeVargas – Pojoaque Valley High School Choir Teacher

Members of the Pojoaque Valley High School Choir 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Fannie Lou Hamer: Stand Up

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE PLAYLIST

A Day In The Life Before A World Premiere

Mother of a Movement: This Little Light of Mine

BONUS: Is This America? 

Singing A Call to Action: Is This America? 

Making a Choice With Conviction: A conversation with Jeri Lynne Johnson

Lighting a Fire: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer

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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.