Where Talent Meets Opportunity: Career Trajectories in Opera with Kristin Ditlow & Jamie Flora
Key Change
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...
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TEASER: Swimming the English Channel with Renée Fleming [VIDEO]
Key Change
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 , Department of Community Engagement & Education. Share your favorite opera moments and questions with Community Engagement: Produced and edited by Hosted by Anna Garcia & Audio Engineering: Collin Ungerleider & Kabby Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz Production Support from Alex Riegler Show Notes by Lisa Widder Theme music by with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano,...
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Rise to the Occasion of Your Opera Career with Chandler Johnson, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers
Key Change
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...
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Taking Care of the Art with Chandler Johnson, Director of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers
Key Change
Pop quiz: Name an opera training initiative that creates space for self-discovery, serious fun, and a bit of Broadway adoration. Spoiler alert: there’s only one answer. On this episode of Key Change, co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora get to know Chandler Johnson, Director of Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program for Singers, and uncover what early-career singers selected for this internationally acclaimed program can expect from their 13 weeks in the desert. “It’s a pressure cooker!” exclaims Chandler of the four-month-long apprenticeship, initially developed by John...
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TEASER: Unlocking Opera Success [VIDEO]
Key Change
Audition trends, career pivots, and pragmatic advice for young opera talent... It's all coming up in our 2-part series of Key Change with Chandler Johnson, Director of the world renknowned Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers. *** Key Change is a production of , Department of Community Engagement & Education. Produced and edited by Hosted by Anna Garcia & Audio Engineering: Collin Ungerleider & Kabby Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz Production Support from Alex Riegler Show Notes by Lisa Widder Theme music by with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe...
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Safe Space for Creative Risks with Community Engagement and Education
Key Change
Bet you didn’t know that nurturing the next generation of opera performers, technicians, and enthusiasts begins in classrooms. Join Key Change co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Santa Fe Opera Department of Community Engagement and Education, featuring guest appearances by Season 5 favorites Charles Gamble, Director of Community Engagement, and Marissa Aurora, Community Engagement Liaison, plus new friend Olivia Dorrell, Administrative Coordinator. “We’re all moved by the extraordinary pageantry, music, and movement of opera,”...
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TEASER: Community Engagement Pop Quiz [VIDEO]
Key Change
What is the minimum age you have to be to start training at the Santa Fe Opera? What are 3 ways you can volunteer at the Santa Fe Opera? What secret do we reveal on Season 6, Episode 2 about our new Director of Community Engagement, Charles Gamble? *** Key Change is a production of , Department of Community Engagement & Education. Produced and edited by Hosted by Anna Garcia & Audio Engineering: Collin Ungerleider & Kabby Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz Production Support from Alex Riegler Show Notes by Lisa Widder Theme music by with Corrie Stallings,...
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Six Carmens Later & Putting On Productions with Olga Perez Flora and Anna Garcia
Key Change
What do disco naps, pantsuits, and chili preferences have to do with life at the opera? If you’re new to the art form in general and Key Change specifically, welcome! And don’t worry, all will be revealed. To our returning fans, a hearty welcome back! We’re excited to share another season and a fresh focus with you. Back to that opening inquiry... “I was thinking it would be really great if we did a lightning round together where we got to know a little bit more about each other and about what's coming up this season,” explains Olga, making her official debut as Key Change co-host,...
info_outline![TEASER: Welcoming our new co-host! [VIDEO] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/content/185357750?height=50&width=50)
TEASER: Welcoming our new co-host! [VIDEO]
Key Change
Coming up on Season 6, Episode 1 of Key Change... *** Key Change is a production of , Department of Community Engagement & Education. Produced and edited by Hosted by Anna Garcia & Audio Engineering: Collin Ungerleider & Kabby Technical Director: Edwin R. Ruiz Production Support from Alex Riegler Show Notes by Lisa Widder Theme music by 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...
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Season 6: Nurturing the Next Generation of Artists [VIDEO]
Key Change
What does it take to build a rewarding and sustainable career in opera? What happens when you realize you don’t really have the drive to BE an opera singer? How do you find the courage to take more creative risks in your own work and life? The answers to these questions and more on Key Change Season 6 from the Santa Fe Opera Department of Community Engagement and Education, with the returning co-host you know and love, Anna Garcia, and the new co-host you’re going to love, Olga Perez Flora! If you're new here, catch up on seasons 1-5 with this recommended playlist: Season 1 Episode 1:...
info_outlineWhat 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
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE PLAYLIST
A Day In The Life Before A World Premiere
Mother of a Movement: This Little Light of Mine
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
***
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.