Key Change

The Santa Fe Opera
  • 4.9 (13)
  • PERFORMING ARTS
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

How can present and future leaders in the opera industry strengthen their understanding of voice, story and community? What does it take to build a rewarding and sustainable career in the arts? Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora offer a rare look into the challenges and opportunities for artists in opera. A must-listen for young artists, families, music educators, teaching artists, and opera fans and supporters! www.santafeopera.org/keychange

  1. Charting New Destinies: Native Voices in Opera with ShanDien LaRance, Robert Mesa, and Ehren Kee Natay

    OCT 8

    Charting New Destinies: Native Voices in Opera with ShanDien LaRance, Robert Mesa, and Ehren Kee Natay

    Join Key Change for one last spin around the season six universe. Co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora recall their favorite moments, including reflections on the exciting collaboration between Santa Fe Opera and the University of New Mexico.  Then, the Key Change team transports us to the first-ever libretto reading workshop for NOVA. Meet the cast of this intergalactic opera and discover how they're interpreting familiar sci-fi tropes, such as colonization, survival, and belonging, through a uniquely Indigenous lens—featuring Robert Mesa (Navajo Nation and the Soboba Band of Mission Indians), ShanDien LaRance (Hopi, Tewa, Navajo and Assiniboine), and Ehren Kee Natay (Diné/Kewa Pueblo). NOVA combines Indigenous futurism and humor with a choose-your-own-adventure ending to examine existential questions of personal responsibility and integrity. "That's very much how many Indigenous tribes are bringing up their children," explains Ehren, a multi-disciplinary artist who plays KID. "Not by telling them what to do or how to be, but to tell them these old stories that provide a moral compass of how your decisions will affect an outcome." Robert, an accomplished film and TV actor who plays Doc, a member of the NOVA crew, welcomes this era of Indigenous collaboration in opera. "It's only within the past six or seven years that there has been a big burst of Native stories finally being put in the mainstream media," he observes. "We're breaking glass ceilings so generations behind us can flourish." "To be a young Indigenous woman living in these times, I think a lot about our history, our traditions," adds ShanDien, a Native hoop dancer and instructor who plays NOVA. "But, I also carry with us that modernism and the way into the future and how we can sustain both." KEY CHANGE RECOMMENDED EPISODES NOVA: Opera After the End of the World Taking Care of the Art with Chandler Johnson, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers Rise to the Occasion of Your Opera Career with Chandler Johnson, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers True Magic from Classroom to Stage with the Santa Fe Opera Young Voices and University of New Mexico Students An Opportunity To Encounter Excellence (And Big News!) Connections Across Time and Space: Opera in the Cosmos FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE Robert Mesa - Doc ShanDien LaRance - NOVA Ehren Kee Natay - Kid MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Hopi Nation Navajo Nation Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Santa Fe Opera Community Engagement University Of New Mexico Grey's Anatomy Accused Dark Winds The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen Appian Way Productions Reservation Dogs Flash Gordon Star Trek Star Wars Alcina at Santa Fe Opera 2017 Jenůfa at Santa Fe Opera 2019 No Greater Act: Pueblo Resistance Circles: Honoring Indigenous Santa Fe Little Globe Liz Lehrman Critical Response Method *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    41 min
  2. TEASER: A Journey to the Stars With the Cast of NOVA [VIDEO]

    OCT 1 · BONUS VIDEO

    TEASER: A Journey to the Stars With the Cast of NOVA [VIDEO]

    A sneak peak behind the scenes of our first reading of the libretto for NOVA, our latest new works commission at the Santa Fe Opera! *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    1 min
  3. NOVA: Opera After the End of the World

    SEP 24

    NOVA: Opera After the End of the World

    Ready for a choose-your-own cosmic adventure? On this episode of Key Change, co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora make way for old friends and new. Andrea Fellows Feinberg returns as guest host to introduce the creative team behind the intergalactic opera NOVA, a subversive meditation on responsibility and personal choice set against the end of the world––featuring Composer Brent Michael Davids, Librettist Marcie Rendon, and Music Director Sara Jobin. "We're gonna mess with the traditional opera genre of tragedies and comedies, do something interesting with it, and make two different endings," confides Brent. He also messes with ideas around conventional sci-fi protagonists and cultural stereotypes. NOVA, for instance, is a brilliant Native American astrophysicist and head of NASA, the Native American Space Agency. Accompanying NOVA are her chief medical officer, Doc, and KID, a bionically modified mischief-maker. Brent hopes these narrative elements will inspire and empower Native youth. If the premise for NOVA sounds vaguely familiar, we teased its development in 2023. Back then, this Opera For All Voices commission was known as Interplanetary Opera. A lot has changed since then, notably the addition of Marcie and Sara, plus Andrea as the production's dramaturg. What hasn't changed is the show's existential ruminations or its humor. "I think that's something I love about this piece and that people might not expect," notes Sara. "There's a lot of humor in it." "It's Native humor," Marcie clarifies. "I wasn't sure that anybody would get it." A recent run-through alleviated her fears. "People did," she says, "and that was great!" KEY CHANGE RECOMMENDED EPISODE Connections Across Time and Space: Opera in the Cosmos FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE Brent Michael Davids - Composer Marcie Rendon - Librettist Sara Jobin - Music Director Andrea Fellows Fineberg - Dramaturg and Key Change Guest Host  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Hidden Figures Minnesota Children's Museum Red Eye Theater Clue  Christopher Hitchens 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    36 min
  4. TEASER: Could The Latest Opera For All Voices Launch Us Into Space? [VIDEO]

    SEP 17 · BONUS VIDEO

    TEASER: Could The Latest Opera For All Voices Launch Us Into Space? [VIDEO]

    Set for a choose-your-own cosmic adventure? Get ready to meet the creative team behind the intergalactic opera, NOVA, on the next episode of Key Change.  *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    1 min
  5. True Magic from Classroom to Stage with the Santa Fe Opera Young Voices and University of New Mexico Students

    MAY 21

    True Magic from Classroom to Stage with the Santa Fe Opera Young Voices and University of New Mexico Students

    Fire up the Key Change time machine! We're charting our course for the collaborative partnership between Santa Fe Opera and the University of New Mexico (UNM).  Never experienced time-machine travel before? No problem! Key Change co-hosts Olga Perez Flora and Anna Garcia are experienced pilots. They introduce us to students participating in the Young Voices residency and steer our audience through an exciting day of master classes and workshops on the UNM campus. And don't worry if you're new to this bold, creative initiative. Olga and Anna provide episode recommendations to help you navigate the journey.  "It's such a wonderful opportunity," says Jamie Flora, esteemed tenor and professor at UNM, of the university's collaboration with Santa Fe Opera. The dynamic program includes master classes on technique, audition logistics, performance critique, and resumé building, all designed to bridge the academic and professional opera worlds.  "We're planting seeds in their minds that this is possible!" explains Kristin Ditlow, Associate Professor of Vocal Coaching at UNM and Music Director of its Opera Theater. "We have pathways and relationships that get you from school to being a working singer." Quiara Cortez followed one of those pathways to UNM, where she is now studying. She credits the collaboration with Santa Fe Opera for nurturing her artistic development. "Being able to talk with the best of the best and seeing what our next steps as people who are already in college might be. And having something big and professional to look forward to is wonderful." KEY CHANGE RECOMMENDED PLAYLIST Where Talent Meets Opportunity: Career Trajectories in Opera with Kristin Ditlow & Jamie Flora What's Opera to a Bunch of High School Students? Young Voices, "The New Crop" Taking Care of the Art with Chandler Johnson, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers Rise to the Occasion of Your Opera Career with Chandler Johnson, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers Safe Space for Creative Risks with Community Engagement and Education Hometown to the World: Discovering "Postville" with Laura Kaminsky and Kimberly Reed Making Learning Sticky: Creative Compassion for Kids & Educators Through Opera with Charles Gamble Harmony in Process: The Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera with Amy "Process" Owens An Opportunity to Encounter Excellence (and Big News!) FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE Kristin Ditlow - Associate Professor of Vocal Coaching, University of New Mexico; Music Director, University of New Mexico Opera Theater James Flora - Lecturer II in Voice and Opera, University of New Mexico Opera Theater Michael Hix - Chair, Department of Music University of New Mexico; Professor of Voice, University of New Mexico Andrea Klunder - Producer, Key Change Podcast Amy Owens - Director of the Young Voices of Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera Young Voices participants – Rylee Baca, Elsa Dhonau-Egan, Landen Kessler, Eleanor Lucas, Ava Mitchie, Alexander Nicholas Neas University Of New Mexico participants - Maria Bollinger, Quiara Cortez, Alexandra King, Ryan Lopez, Taylor Stanley MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE La Traviata | Santa Fe Opera Hometown to the World | Santa Fe Opera Eugene Onegin | Santa Fe Opera University Of New Mexico - Department Of Music Apprentice Program for Singers | Santa Fe Opera Opera Storytellers Summer Camp | Santa Fe Opera Opera Makes Sense | Santa Fe Opera The Philadelphia Orchestra The Inner Voice: The Making Of A Singer Classical Singer Music Awards Paula Corbin Swallin *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange

    37 min
  6. TEASER: Rising Voices in Opera [VIDEO]

    MAY 14 · VIDEO

    TEASER: Rising Voices in Opera [VIDEO]

    What have our favorite high school aged singers been up to? Hear from the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera themselves on the next episode of Key Change... coming soon! *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    1 min
  7. Where Talent Meets Opportunity: Career Trajectories in Opera with Kristin Ditlow & Jamie Flora

    MAY 7

    Where Talent Meets Opportunity: Career Trajectories in Opera with Kristin Ditlow & Jamie Flora

    We often say that the road to a successful opera career can be a winding one—and we've got the receipts to prove it! Join Key Change co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora as they discuss career trajectories, academic journeys, and artistic life with two legendary performers and educators: Kristin Ditlow, Associate Professor of Vocal Coaching and Opera Conductor at the University Of New Mexico, and James Flora*, acclaimed American tenor and Lecturer in Voice and Opera, also at UNM. Our conversation sets the stage for an exciting collaboration between Santa Fe Opera and UNM. "The position that I have (at UNM) has evolved with me," says Kristin, who has worked around the world as a conductor and a pianist. "That's a testament to a healthy place that's willing to grow along with its faculty and allow them to grow in a position." It's also a verdant artistic environment where raw talent is refined, and practice leads to proficiency.   Jamie hopes that the next generation of opera professionals will bring the art form's epic storytelling and staging to a broader audience. "I'd love for opera to step away a little bit from exclusivity," he says, reflecting on how the perceived cliquishness couldn't be farther from the true experience of a live opera. "A lot of people who grew up in small towns like I did didn't understand the opera was for them," he says, adding, "Opera's for everyone!" *That surname is no coincidence. Jamie also holds the title of spouse to our very own Olga. KEY CHANGE RECOMMENDED PLAYLISTS Catch up on the full story of Hometown To The World: Season 1, Ep 6: Hometown to the World: Discovering Postville Season 2, Ep 9: America Is Impossible Without Us Season 3, Ep 3: Responding to the World Season 3, Ep 8: Bridging Communities with Carmen Flórez-Mansi Season 4, Ep 1: This Doesn't Happen Without Audience; The Hometown to the World Premiere Season 4, Ep 2: Influence and Inclusion: The Impact of Hometown to the World with Youth Chorus Season 4, Ep 8: Hometown to the World Debuts on Broadway Hear the evolution of This Little Light of Mine: Season 2, Ep 7: Mother of a Movement: This Little Light of Mine BONUS: Is This America?  Season 3, Ep 4: Singing A Call to Action: Is This America?  Season 3, Ep 5: Making a Choice With Conviction: A conversation with Jeri Lynne Johnson Season 3, Ep 6: Building a Better Society with Florida International University Music Students Season 3, Ep 7: Lighting a Fire: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer Season 4, Ep 6: A Day in the Life Before a World Premiere Season 4, Ep 7: Telling Hard Truths FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE Kristin Ditlow James Flora MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE IMSLP - Petrucci Music Library for scores in public domain Apprentice Program for Singers | Santa Fe Opera Cold Mountain | Santa Fe Opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs | Santa Fe Opera Hometown to the World | Santa Fe Opera This Little Light Of Mine | Santa Fe Opera Der Rosenkavalier | Santa Fe Opera The Turn Of The Screw | Santa Fe Opera Die Walküre | Santa Fe Opera La bohème | Santa Fe Opera Rigoletto | Santa Fe Opera A Midsummer Night's Dream | Santa Fe Opera Little Women | UNM Opera Oberlin Conservatory of Music Westminster Choir College Boston Symphony Opera BSO | Tanglewood San Francisco Opera | Merola Opera Program Arizona Opera The Glimmerglass Festival Pittsburgh Opera Central City Opera Kentucky Opera Metropolitan Opera This is Spinal Tap New Jersey Opera Theater Opera Steamboat The Three Feathers Benjamin Britten Star Wars Psycho Opera Company of Middlebury *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    47 min
  8. TEASER: Swimming the English Channel with Renée Fleming [VIDEO]

    APR 30 · BONUS VIDEO

    TEASER: Swimming the English Channel with Renée Fleming [VIDEO]

    Coming up on the next episode of Key Change... the trajectory of an opera career from academia to the main stage with musicians & opera educators Jamie Flora and Kirstin Ditlow. *** 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: agarcia@santafeopera.org 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. To learn more, visit SantaFeOpera.org/KeyChange.

    1 min
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Trailers

4.9
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

How can present and future leaders in the opera industry strengthen their understanding of voice, story and community? What does it take to build a rewarding and sustainable career in the arts? Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora offer a rare look into the challenges and opportunities for artists in opera. A must-listen for young artists, families, music educators, teaching artists, and opera fans and supporters! www.santafeopera.org/keychange

Information

  • Creator
    The Santa Fe Opera
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    67
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2018-25 The Santa Fe Opera
  • Show Website
    Key Change