Welcoming you back to the Santa Fe Opera with Audience Services Director Julie Wheeler
Release Date: 07/10/2021
Special Announcement: Help us win an award!
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Have you ever wondered what it takes to create a new opera? Season 5 of Key Change, from the Santa Fe Opera Department of Community Engagement, is coming soon and we’d LOVE for you to help us celebrate its 5th anniversary. We just learned that Key Change is a FINALIST in the Signal Awards for the podcasting industry! We are up for 2 different awards: Best Music Show for the 4th season; and Best Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Episode for “Telling Hard Truths”, an episode following the commission, creation, and world premiere of This Little Light of Mine by Chandler Carter...
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Life Skills, Music Making, and Billy Bad the Billionaire: Youth Opera Programs with Amy Owens and Charles Gamble
Destination Santa Fe Opera
It’s encore time! After a brief hiatus to appreciate a triumphant 65th summer of opera in the desert, Destination Santa Fe Opera returns with one last conversation to close out this podcast season. Host Jane Trembley chats with Charles Gamble, SFO’s newly appointed Director of School Programs, and Amy Owens, newly appointed Director Designate of the Young Voices Program about how opera’s inclusive, collaborative storytelling can boost self-esteem and confidence in young people. Charles and Amy also share the paths that led each of them to their current positions, and they provide...
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Getting to the Next Phase in Your Opera Career featuring Technical Apprentice Khadija Ann Tarver and Apprentice Singer Thomas Cilluffo
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera plays host to more than peerless productions. On stage and off, spend the season learning by doing at one of the most celebrated and welcoming training grounds in the world. Host Jane Trembley chats with technical apprentice Khadija Ann Tarver and apprentice singer Thomas Cilluffo about their respective programs, what advice the pair have for aspiring apprentices, and their plans beyond Santa Fe. “I was coming in open-minded since I didn't have a traditional theater background,” admits Khadija. Talent earned her a coveted spot on this season’s props and carpentry team,...
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Kangmin Justin Kim Transports Us Through Time and Culture with M. Butterfly
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Bad romances don’t come much better than the complicated relationship at the heart of . Host Jane Trembley talks fantasy versus reality with countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim before his Santa Fe Opera and U.S. mainstage debut as Song Liling in this operatic world premiere. The pair also discuss the psychology behind Justin's character, transitioning from musical theater to opera, and building representation in the classical music community. “There are a lot of dichotomies in this piece,” Justin says of the lopsided love affair between French diplomat René Gallimard and Song Liling, the...
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Jamie Barton on Epic Singing, Queer Characters, and the Heart and Complication in Tristan und Isolde
Destination Santa Fe Opera
There’s no such thing as a “little” Wagner. Host Jane Trembley catches up with internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton in anticipation of the epic Santa Fe Opera debut of . The pair chat about the thrill of performing this legendary tale of love and betrayal––and why Richard Wagner’s music is totally worth leaving the house for! Jamie also discusses interpreting her characters through a queer lens and transcending the score to create meaningful art. “I love this character!” says Jamie of the empathetic Brangäne. “She reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.” For...
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Larger Than Life: Verdi’s Falstaff with Quinn Kelsey
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Who’ll serve the infamous jolly knight his just desserts? The list of candidates is long, and their scheme is hilarious. All will be revealed when , Giuseppe Verdi’s classic farce, arrives on the Santa Fe Opera stage. Host Jane Trembley speaks with Hawai’i native Quinn Kelsey about embodying the larger-than-life titular character and learns why comedy is more challenging to play than tragedy. Quinn also answers the million-dollar question: what would the celebrated Verdi baritone ask the great composer if given a chance? If you think you know Verdi, think again. “[Falstaff]...
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A Fresh Take on The Barber of Seville with Apprentice Alumni Emily Fons and Jack Swanson
Destination Santa Fe Opera
There’s a reason why remains one of the most popular operas in the world. Gioachino Rossini’s comedic masterpiece never fails to delight audiences with its lively music, whirlwind romance, and inevitable happy ending. Host Jane Trembley speaks with mezzo-soprano Emily Fons and tenor Jack Swanson about their approach to providing a fresh take on one of opera’s most familiar tales. The pair also give advice to anyone encountering The Barber of Seville for the first time and share wisdom from their time in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers. Plus, Jane learns all about...
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Isabel Leonard on Interpreting the Iconic Role of Carmen
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Is there a more provocative or iconic character in all of opera than Carmen? This free-spirited, defiant factory worker reigns supreme as the original difficult woman––in the best possible way. Host Jane Trembley chats with Isabel Leonard as she gets set to play the titular diva in Bizet’s to open Santa Fe Opera’s 2022 season. The mezzo-soprano discusses her physical and emotional preparations for the role, how her Argentine-American heritage has informed her musical intuition, and her love for challenging the misconceptions that surround this charismatic, complicated heroine. ...
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Creating New Worlds with Costume Director Blair Gulledge and Properties Director Eileen Garcia
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Bringing fantastical worlds to the Santa Fe Opera stage requires creativity, communication, and compassion. Host Jane Trembley chats with Costume Director Blair Gulledge and Properties Director Eileen Garcia about the intense year-round effort that goes into planning and implementing the designs for each season. She also learns how these two department heads collaborate with one another and their commitment to providing a kinder, more supportive working environment for their teams, colleagues, and the Opera’s guest performers. Scenery may set the stage, but costumes and props establish...
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Making Magic and Managing Mayhem Backstage with Mike Ortiz, Technical Director and Tracy Armagost, Production & Recruiting Coordinator
Destination Santa Fe Opera
Flash floods. Supply chain issues. Safety briefings. Would you believe this is opera? Host Jane Trembley discovers that only at Santa Fe Opera does behind-the-scenes excitement rival onstage drama. She chats with Production & Recruiting Coordinator Tracy Armagost and Technical Director Mike Ortiz, the supportive, creative pair behind SFO backstage team. Tracy and Mike share their long histories with the opera, some of the magical (and nerve wracking!) moments they’ve helped bring to the stage, and exciting maneuvers to pay attention to in the upcoming season. “Our jobs mingle quite a...
info_outlineWelcoming opera-lovers back to the Santa Fe Opera this summer requires a massive behind-the-scenes effort, much of which is coordinated by the front-of-house team. Jane Trembley talks preparations and protocols with Julie Wheeler, the Santa Fe Opera’s audience services director. Their conversation sheds light (and a few tears) on the grace, gratitude, and overwhelming emotions accompanying this season’s return to the desert stage.
The 2021 Season comes with a host of new challenges. Few know better than Julie. She and key colleagues across the company have spent the last 16 months researching, planning, and implementing many of the modifications SFO has put into place this season. However, she credits the entire staff with making the adjustments look and feel effortless. From newly installed touchless technology to seamless social distancing measures, this season’s goal, says Julie, remains the same as always: to create an environment in which audiences can commune with opera surrounded by gorgeous natural scenery. “It's just going to be one of those things where I think what they can expect is what we've been talking about - that sense of being out and being someplace you know and love and experiencing your joy.”
Joy is Julie’s beacon. It colors memories of her first visit to Santa Fe, the one in which she visited her mother and never left. It flavors her overwhelming penchant for red chile (sorry, team green). Joy is also the force behind her compassion for ticket holders as she and her team contacted every single one last year to share that the pandemic had forced SFO into an unprecedented, season-long closure.
As summer gets underway, Julie’s excited to finally see how guests respond to SFO’s new initiatives, including the nightly, on-site Simulcasts of every single show. “For people who maybe aren't ready yet to step foot into a theater with, you know, 15- to 1700 people, it gives them an opportunity to view from their car and tailgate and still have that wonderful experience.” No matter where they’re seated this season, Julie’s efforts ensure that audiences will rediscover their joy, safely.
Listeners can find the restaurants recommended in this episode below.
CREDITS
Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.
Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz
Hosted by: Jane Trembley
Julie Wheeler, Audience Services Director, Santa Fe Opera
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.