Key Change The Santa Fe Opera

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
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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
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
cgamble@santafeopera.org
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
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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
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.