The Indie Opera Podcast Peter Szep, Brooke Larimer, Walker Lewis, Chuck Sachs

What is an opera companie's civic responsibility especially in this period of pandemic shutdown? What skill sets should they have been cultivating to be an engaged and engaging 21st Century arts organization?

We learn about the programming that led them to a unique and moving collaboration with the U.S. Army Field Band & Chorus on the opera The Falling and The Rising. Opera is alive and kicking up a storm in Memphis, grab your earphones, plug in and hear all about it on your favorite app, or watch on Youtube.

The classical live performance world is three weeks into the complete shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. How are opera companies treating their contracted artists? How much more prepared are the new generation of artists in working the business of making art? What are those artists doing to stay present with their fans? What companies are increasing their online presence with live streams of their productions?

Arnold Geis is a Los Angeles based tenor and performer for Film, Television, video games, and opera companies around the world and Soprano Chabrelle Williams who is an an avid arts advocate, and three-time District winner of the New York Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Our guests were both performing at the Lincoln Center Theater in Lynn Nottage and Rocky Ian Gordon’s opera, Intimate Apparel, as Mr. Mark’s and alternating as the lead role of Esther, in a production directed by Bartlett Sher, which has been suspended because of the Covid-19 outbreak. this episode is also available on youtube - https://youtu.be/MN5WiKcIhTw

Our guests from Brooklyn-based creative producing company The American Opera Project assumed leadership of this thirty-year old company in July 2019. In addition to curating AOP’s season and overall output, they also provide theatrical and musical dramaturgy to AOP works in development, AOP’s Collaboration with the NYU Opera Lab and the family and schooling that shaped their lives and careers as creative artists.

We listen to selections from "Hu Tong", Kui Dong Composer, Monika Datta Librettist; and "The Veil", Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei, Composer (دانیال رضا سبزقبایی), Yashar Saghai and Mina Salehpour, Co-Librettist.We also question how white opera is, the influence of Flamenco on opera, the Prototype Festival and more.

We sit down for an invigorating discussion with composer Ricky Ian Gordon & soprano Jennifer Zetlan about the chamber opera Ellen West which is receiving it’s NYC premiere as part of Prototype Festival 2020. Jennifer talks about her solo debut album with Ricky, Your Clear Eye and Ricky about their upcoming production of his next opera premiere, Intimate Apparel with Lynn Nottage for a 10 week run at Lincoln Center Theater.