Libsyn Directory

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

Release Date: 05/07/2025

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

Key Change

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...

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

Key Change

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 , 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, and Joe Becktell, cello Cover art by Dylan...

NOVA: Opera After the End of the World

Key Change

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...

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

Key Change

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 , 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, and Joe Becktell,...

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

Key Change

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...

TEASER: Rising Voices in Opera [VIDEO]

Key Change

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 , 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, and...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

More Episodes

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