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 award…

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 th…

Santa Fe Opera plays host to more than peerless productions. On stage and off, SFO apprentices 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…

Bad romances don’t come much better than the complicated relationship at the heart of M. Butterfly. 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, tr…

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 Tristan und Isolde. 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…

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 Falstaff, 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…

There’s a reason why The Barber of Seville 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 providi…

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 Carmen to open Santa Fe Opera’s 2022 season. The mezzo-sopr…

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 depart…

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 …

Look up the definition for community engagement, and you'll find lots of fantastic terms––Strategic! Interaction! Ally! But the word that tops them all is "relationship." Host Jane Trembley chats with Kyle Gray, Santa Fe Opera's Manager of Community Relations and Government Affairs, about how he helps foster meaningful connections between SFO and g…

Destination Santa Fe Opera welcomes you back for our 2022 season with our host, Jane Trembley. We're ready to take on 2022 with five brand new productions, including an international co-production a company premiere, and a world premiere. You could say that we're a little excited. New episodes of the podcast are coming to you all spring and summer …

What has all the compelling drama of a marathon finish line and the adrenaline rush of a Formula One championship? Santa Fe Opera’s 2022 Season, of course! Or so says Jane’s guest. She sits down with Chief Artistic Officer David Lomelí to learn more about the incredible titles and talents set to grace the Santa Fe Opera stage next summer. The pair …

Singers aren’t the only apprentices who are put through their paces at the Santa Fe Opera. Theater technicians also participate in an intermediate-to-advanced training program that offers world-class instruction and practical experience in stage operations, properties, audio & video, costumes, production/music services, makeup and wig construction,…

Audiences and staff aren’t the only ones excited for opera’s return to the desert this season. Jane Trembley chats with soprano Teresa Perrotta and bass Allen Michael Jones, two performers in the 2021 Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers. Teresa and Allen Michael take listeners inside this “summer camp” for singers which is internationally…

Soprano Angel Blue makes her Santa Fe Opera debut in concert Saturday, August 7, 2021. Jane caught a spare moment with Angel upon her arrival in Santa Fe to learn more about who she is on stage, off stage, and in the practice room. Angel also shares strong opinions and guidance for young singers, who may fall into the comparison trap with “the grea…

Welcoming 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, gratitu…

Magic, mischief, and mismatched lovers are at cross purposes when the Santa Fe Opera premieres one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. Choreographer and dancer Reed Luplau says there’s no better setting for A Midsummer Night’s Dream than our glorious desert stage. Host Jane Trembley learns more about Reed’s fascinating journey from his mother’s…

Rising star Avery Amereau lends her lush contralto voice in the role of Olga in the Santa Fe Opera’s new production of Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin’s story of rakes and romantic mistakes set to glorious music by Tchaikovsky. While this marks the singer’s Santa Fe Opera debut, Avery is well acquainted with Olga and New Mexico’s great chile debat…

Celebrated countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo will channel Dracula and Dionysus when he makes his Santa Fe Opera debut this season in the world premiere of The Lord of Cries. Host (and uber fan-girl) Jane Trembley chats with Anthony about what it’s like having a lead role crafted especially for him by composer John Corigliano, with libretto by Mark…

Even folks who’ve never seen a performance of The Marriage of Figaro will instantly recognize its famous overture from numerous films, commercials and cartoons. Jane Trembley talks with Colombian-American soprano Vanessa Vasquez about her upcoming turn as Countess Almaviva in the Santa Fe Opera’s 2021 Season production of Mozart’s beloved romantic …

A great voice isn’t the only requirement for admission into the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera program. Nor is vocal technique the program’s sole focus. Host Jane Trembly chats with program director Kathleen Clawson and John Daugherty, a graduate of the program’s inaugural class, and now Assistant Director of Voice and Opera Program Director at…

What does it take to remain cool as cucumber water amid the intense technical demands of the world’s grandest art form? Jane dishes about the drama with guest Chelsea Antrim Dennis, Santa Fe Opera’s Director of Production. Trap door danger! Raging storms! Mid-performance fainting! Chelsea has navigated a few professional storms in her 16 seasons wi…

The Santa Fe Opera is back! Actually, SFO never went away (hello, digital performances, and nice to meet you, TikTok!) It’ll take more than a pandemic to knock a 60-something legend off its game. Still, 2020 served this iconic organization its share of questions to consider. How does a world-class company safely reintroduce audiences to its artistr…

Welcome to Destination Santa Fe Opera, a fresh take on our former “Beyond the Opera” podcast with even more episodes, a new host, and a deep dive into what’s happening on stage AND behind the scenes. Meet your host, Jane Trembley, an arts administrator and podcast host by day, opera singer and House Manager at Santa Fe Opera by night... But not on …

For opera lovers, today's guest needs no introduction. Renée Fleming is one of the most celebrated and cherished singers worldwide. In the midst of a whirlwind tour, Renée had a moment to chat with dramaturg Cori Ellison about her Santa Fe Opera debut in a concert featuring Letters from Georgia by Kevin Puts and Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs)…

Beloved musicians and founders of Bridge Records, Becky and David Starobin make their debut as librettists in collaboration with composer Poul Ruders on this brand new fairytale thriller opera adapted from "The Twelve Brothers" by the Brothers Grimm. Cori digs deep with Becky and David into the collaborative process, the necessary changes to the so…

All eyes in the village are on Jenufa. Her fiancé sees only a trophy wife. Her rejected suitor sees a chance to avenge the most cutting wrongs in his past. Her righteous stepmother sees her own life’s tragedy about to play out again for her child. The results are two unspeakable crimes which lead to the opera’s true theme—that the wounds of trouble…

What makes the seemingly ridiculous plot of Così fan tutte such a compelling study of the duality of human nature that we revisit time and again? How do we understand the play of gender norms and societal pressure through a contemporary lens? And what's a director to do about a plot point that revolves around mustaches? R.B. Schlather is one of the…

A conversation from the "feminine perspective" about the often underestimated opera by Georges Bizet, The Pearl Fishers, reveals insights into key themes of power dynamics, the intrinsic conflict of character Leïla, and what it means to be a leader in this day and age. Director Shawna Lucey, soprano Corinne Winters, and host Kathleen Clawson give u…

Baritone Zachary Nelson started his professional opera singing career as an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera, following college and swiftly made his way onto the main stage in what to him felt like a dream come true. In the 2019 season, he's singing Marcello in the Santa Fe Opera's new production of Puccini's La bohème. Kathleen Clawson talks with …