Opera Innovation | No. 1 Playlist + Liner Notes

Surprise! Welcome to the Opera Innovation | No. 1 playlist + liner notes.

Since we’re still about opera and the classically trained voice, we thought we’d highlight artists who’ve been on the blog or our social media channels since we launched in late Spring 2020. Some people here are friends I’ve known for a while, others I’ve only met online, and some who are sadly no longer with us but live on through their one-of-a-kind work. We also include some classics already featured on our Instagram and the blog. Ultimately, the purpose of these liner notes is to provide background on why each piece is represented, and if applicable, linking to current Opera Innovation content and artists represented.

CLICK IMAGE TO HEAR THE OPERA INNOVATION | NO. 1 PLAYLIST

There will succeeding playlists, too, so the fun is just beginning. Once you’ve listened, you’ll find that this is definitely not your typical opera playlist. Enjoy!

• “Ave Maria” by Marnie Breckenridge

  We met and befriended Marnie Breckenridge when we became supporters of Opera Parallele’s world premiere opera Today it Rains. In the ensuing two years, Marnie’s been productivity plus, notably with San Francisco Symphony’s SoundBox and Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, where she world premiered Jacqueline with cellist Matt Haimovitz, winning a 2020 DORA Award for Best Individual Performance. And then the pandemic hit. However, we were delighted that Marnie went ahead with plans to record new music, her Happy Golden Days EP and two (2) singles released just in time for the holidays (and on repeat at our house).

  • We love how Marnie paired her powerful voice with Grammy Award-winning Bluegrass Guitarist Tim Stafford for this Ave Maria. Stay tuned for more releases in 2021.

• “The Reporters” from Thumbprint by Kamala Sankaram

  We’ve not yet met Ms. Sankaram, although she’s a part of our recent American Lyric Theatre expert Diversity Q&A panel series on Facebook, as well as that company’s ongoing CLDP Opera Writers Symposium. But I first encountered her when she began working with Opera Innovation contributor Mark Campbell on West Edge Opera’s new opera incubator Aperture. We wanted to get a sense of her work as a composer, and we thought this opening piece from her and Susan Yankowitz’s 2014 “opera / theatre work” Thumbprint was a good introduction - Thumbprint is inspired by the experiences of Mukhtar Mai, the first female victim of gang rape to bring her male attackers to justice in Pakistan.

  • The ability to capture an audience’s attention at the beginning of an opera - think Salome - and then exponentially build excitement are the reasons The Reporters resonated for us. Boom!

• “Thanks for Coming” from The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates, Mark Campbell, Edward Parks

  While I was still vibrating after seeing the world premiere of this opera in Santa Fe in 2017, long before Mason Bates and Mark Campbell won the 2019 Best Opera Recording Grammy for it, I found Mr. Campbell so that I could tell him that it should play Broadway - a crossover, operatic hybrid backed my Mr. Bates’ electronic beats and sounds. He agreed without any hesitation. In so many ways, this piece defines what operatic innovation looks and sounds like and I’ll never forget the thrill of experiencing its launch and Edward Parks’ 1000 % believable Steve Jobs. It’s also an opportunity to shout out great friends Kristen Choi, Adelaide Boebecker and Jessica E. Jones, who are also cited on this Grammy-winning recording.

  • There are many new operas, but (R)evolution will continue to be part of “the rep” since its represents everything new, possible, daring, responsive and innovative that can happen in opera. A case study to be modeled!

• “Lightning Strikes” by Klaus Nomi

  Our appreciation and deep respect for Klaus Nomi is somewhat recent. Having heard this former Deutsche Oper usher, countertenor and underground artist’s name referenced in passing at various times over the years, I didn’t investigate further until late last year, discovering what a landmark artist he was, sadly dying of AIDS at just 39 years old and the apex of his performance career.

  • Everyone needs to hear Nomi’s countertenor applied to his delightful cover of Lou Christie's 1960’s hit Lightning Strikes. A “secret” project forthcoming!

• “I Wish I Loved Someone” by Mr. Max with Joanna Ceja

  Mr. Max is an LA-based surf punk rock band with a growing Southern California fanbase, but we came to know about them and band founder Max Cohen through friend, classically-trained vocalist and actress Joanna Ceja, who sings back up on several Mr. Max singles. Platonic collaborators, both have managed to continuing working in music during the pandemic; we remain in support of their new projects, together and separate. And yes, that’s Joanna in gorilla head drag, but more on her operatic roots found here. Max is featured in this Voyage LA Magazine profile from January 2021.

  • We admire this melding of musical and vocal styles, which originated out of a chance Uber meeting. These are cool, kind entrepreneurial creatives who make their respective art forms great.

• “Lakmé and Mallika” by Emily M Cheung

  At the end of 2020, as the holidays, election and pandemic horror were all upon us, we were heartened by a returning holiday-season Volvo commercial from 2018. In it, soprano Emily M Cheung performs a version of “Der Holle Rach,” a piece advertisers seem to love regardless of it being a homicidal aria called as "The Vengence of Hell" from Mozart's The Magic Flute. We shared it on Instagram and Facebook, where it went a bit viral, undoubtedly spreading the Opera Innovation word (our sincere thanks). When putting this playlist together, we were glad to find this single from Ms. Cheung, which includes a version of “Lakmé,” one of my favorite arias-as-advertising for British Airways, the airline’s go-to sound branding for decades.

  • We love the arrangement of “Lakmé-Mallika” - contemporary music that just so happens to showcase a classically-trained voice. Emily’s found her sound and style, is this the future of contemporary music, full stop?

• “Le Voyageur, Op. 18 No. 2” by Gabriel Fauré, Brian Asawa, Sir Neville Marriner

  There will never be another Brian Asawa. We happened to meet Mr. Asawa when he was quite literally the moment, kicking in doors for countertenors in the early 1990s. We were also fortunate enough to work with him during the last few years of his life on social media, content and brand strategy briefs. But it was more than the work. Brian was our OG opera innovator who not only freely shared the opera singer experience, but also the art of singing. We are forever grateful for these things, his friendship, his artistry and beautiful gift to opera and music history.

  • More to come on this remarkable man and how he changed opera.

• “Biblical Songs, Op.99: II Lord Thou Art My Refuge” by Antonín Dvorák, Elyse Anne Kakacek & Ryan Johnson

  Sometimes things just happen. We’d just launched Opera Innovation and it was either through the algorithm or stories, but we came across Frisson Films and founders Elyse A. Kakacek and Ryan Rivard, which led to their writing one of the first OI blogs (we’re forever grateful). Fast forward to August and the release of Elyse’s Formless album featuring the Biblical songs of Dvorák. We listen at least once a week to this beautiful album by Elyse and Pianist Ryan Johnson.

  • Formless should be listened to as an album, so start with this first movement. It remains our centering, work music staple, brimming with hope, joy and peace- things we all need more of these days.

• “Preach Sister, Preach: No. 1, Simone de Beauvoir; No. 2, Mae West; No. 3 Gilda Radner” by Evan Mack, Megan Marino, John Arida

  We first had the pleasure of meeting and befriending mezzo Megan Marino at Santa Fe Opera in 2015. Megan’s progress thought the business of opera has been a bit of a bellwether for us - an extremely talented artist with a no-nonsense approach to her work, tempered by equal parts compassion and empathy. Just last weekend, she dropped The Travelled Road, a new album with Composer Evan Mack, Pianist John Arida and Cellist Jameson Platte. We had no prior notice about this new music, but it arrived right on time for this playlist!

  • We love this album and actually wanted more when the three song cycles and stand-alone pieces had ended. It should be listened to as a whole album. This thought found on composer Evan Mack’s Twitter account: “If you’ve been feeling numb to the world, Evan Mack’s music, combined with the powerful words of others, may be the antidote.” - Kristina Driskill

• “Are You Good?” by Aurelia’s Voice

  “Classically rooted and refreshingly creative,” per David MacKay, Auralia’s Voice is the songwriting moniker for Flint MI-based classical singer Tiffany Thorpe. We “met” last week when she followed Opera Innovation on Twitter, so we decided to investigate the new EP she was promoting - a good decision. We followed her back, asking if I could share Are You Good? since this was our first meeting. Fortunately, she agreed. From her Spotify account, words again from Mr. MacKay: “Aurelia’s Voice floats in dreamy tones on a sea of complex emotions. Her music is evocative--drawing the listener to the sensations of pain, regret, frustration, and ultimately hope. Hope in oneself for the future. Hope in who we all can become when we realize the strength that dwells within.”

  • A cohesive 5-song EP powered by classical voice. Are You Good? speaks to our now beautifully. Go!

• “Thinking Out Loud” by Damon K. Clark

  Damon K. Clark began following us on Instagram and has been greatly supportive of what we’re doing there and on the blog (our sincerest thanks). Damon has been a professional vocalist for over 20 years, performing and touring globally. He began his career as an opera singer and later ventured into folk, rock, neo-soul, and jazz. He also has a vocal studio in Dallas, where he’s based, which has pivoted online due to the pandemic. It was wonderful to find his cover version of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” which has become our preferred version!

  • Come for Damon’s classically-trained voice, stay for his storytelling and beautifully arranged musical pieces. We understand there may be some opera coming, please look for it on future playlists.

• Carmen, WD 31 | Act 1: “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Habanera) by Georges Bizet, Elīna Garanča, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della RAI, Karel Mark Chichon, Coro Filarmonico del Regio di Torino

  No, we don’t know Ms. Garanča, but we added this piece because:

  • Briana K. Hunter apparently just killed it as Carmen at Opera Orlando, singing in front of audiences for the first time in a year - BRAVA!

  • We will always love how luxury brand CDLP featured it in their men’s underwear commercial, filmed at The Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Lake Como.

  • The aforementioned Megan Marino will make her role debut as Carmen in The Atlanta Opera’s “The Threepenny Carmen” later this month. Brava, Megan!

• La Wally | “Ebben? No andrò Iontana” by Alfredo Catalani, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Vladimir Cosma and the London Philharmonic Orchestra

  We featured a clip from “DIVA,” one of our favorite films, on Instagram last year because it marked the first time opera moved us as, a 12 year old kid watching this French film on PBS.

• Norma | “Casta Diva” by Vincenzo Bellini, Maria Callas, Orchestre du théâtre national de l’opéra, Georges Sébastien, Choeur du théâtre national de l’opéra

  We thought this 1958 recording of La Divina was appropriate to denote Jean Paul Gaultier’s use of “Casta Diva” in his recent Le Mâle fragrance “Welcome On Board” campaign, which we featured via Instagram Reels. Although our only live experience of this iconic piece is with the wonderful Sonya Radvanovsky, there doesn’t seem to be a publicly available recording of her singing it (but if anyone knows where to stream one, please let us know).

  STAY TUNED FOR NO.2 THIS SUMMER!

Opera Innovator: Grammy-Winning Librettist Mark Campbell Keeps Creating in the New Now

Librettist Mark Campbell, photographed on Fire Island, New York.

(Santa Fe, NM) - When news of Mark Campbell’s librettist prize with OPERA America hit the internet, I sent him a congratulatory Facebook DM. What ensued was a weeks-long conversation that resulted in the wonderful Q&A below. In addition to The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize (COLP), Mark is a man who’s remained just as prolific as he was pre-pandemic, making his ongoing flight into artistic headwinds seem absolutely doable, an inspiration to all of us during these difficult times. With the arrival of new collaborations, operas and another well-deserved 2021 Grammy nomination, this time with composer Paul Moravec for their Sanctuary Road oratorio, we thought a Q&A format would be best, no pun intended. We’re also honored to break some exclusive opera news: Mark’s currently writing a new theatrical song cycle with young, gay composer Matthew Ricketts, inspired by Derek Jarman's book, Modern Nature. Per Mark: “You probably know Jarman as a filmmaker, but he wrote this memoir in 1989-1990 after he’d purchased a fisherman's cottage in a desolate location on the English Channel, soon after he was diagnosed with AIDS.” All this and more revealed below via Mark’s trademark warmth, feeling and humor. JM

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OI: How did you and Matthew Ricketts come together to begin creating this song cycle based on Derek Jarman's memoir? Given the context of Jarman's writings, an AIDS pandemic that's never gone away and the magnitude of our current public health disaster, this is a timely if not extremely real brief. You mentioned that this project would be an opportunity to write "more poetic text." Could you expand on that?

MC: When my husband and I moved into our modest home on Fire Island earlier this spring,  I began imagining my little garden here. Around that time, I read a beautifully written article in The New Yorker by Rebecca Mead about filmmaker and gay activist Derek Jarman and the remarkable garden he created at Prospect Cottage, a scrappy fisherman's shack in Dungeness that he had purchased soon after his AIDS diagnosis. Jarman captured his experiences in 1989 and 1990 at this cottage in his very moving memoir, Modern Nature, and as I read the book, I felt inspired to write a song cycle about it. It sings.

Matthew and I had been "courting" each other as composer and librettist for a little over a year, I proposed the idea and he loved it. (By the way, Matthew who received a Guggenheim Foundation Award last year, is a composer to watch!)

Composer Matthew Ricketts. Photo credit: Michael Kuhn

I had originally thought of the work as a short (4 or 5 songs) song cycle, but the more I write the text, the more I see it as a complete theatrical evening, a contemplative structure similar to the libretto Kimberly Reed and I created for As One. I generally shy away from overt poetry when creating text for operas or oratorios—it tends to call attention to itself and distracts from the music. But with this piece—tentatively titled Unruly Sun—poetry seems right. Of course, I feel many strong personal connections to the story—moving away from a city to escape a pandemic, mortality and the garden, the need for a legacy, a gay man who lost many people to AIDS…the list goes on and on…and the more I enumerate these connections, the more I wince at the obviousness of them.

OI: Let's change directions a bit and talk about West Edge Opera's Aperture program. We love the real-time BTS aspect, tracking almost two dozen original works from the ground up. You're working with composer Kamala Sankaram, breathing life into My Own Country, a longtime dream project that chronicles an immigrant doctor's experiences in Johnson City, Tennessee while caring for people with AIDS during the early years of the crisis. I will sign myself up tout de suite, but what can you share with us about the process thus far? 

MC: As you know, opera companies around the country are trying to find ways to remain connected with their communities during the pandemic. Mark Streshinsky, General Director of West Edge Opera, and his smart and mighty team, came up with the ingenious idea of spending more significant time exploring the process of composers and librettists when they create new operas. They audaciously chose 22 projects to feature and I'm flattered that my name appears on a roster with so many composers and librettists I respect and admire. 

Composer Kamala Sankaram.

My Own Country, which I'm creating with the brilliant (and deservedly overworked) composer Kamala Sankaram is a piece I've been dreaming about creating for 25 years. It's based on Dr. Abraham Verghese's 1994 memoir (another memoir!) of the same name and chronicles his experiences as a doctor and an immigrant in Johnson City, Tennessee as AIDS begins to enter the community. Two years ago, New York Theatre Workshop gave Kamala and I a residency to begin work on the opera and I created an outline and she and I wrote a few songs. If WEO awards us a full commission, we would be able to complete this work.  

OI: Several weeks ago, we started talking about your latest world premiere film project with composer Joe Illick and Fort Worth Opera, based in the now familiar universe of zoom. We've seen the extra Broadway World piece, so we'll have extra popcorn on hand as we watch your A-list cast navigate the "virtual comedy" of an online book club discussing The Handmaid's Tale. This sounds delicious and oh so you. 

MC: Oh, I love working with Joe. We wrote two children's operas which are entering the repertoire very quickly. He asked me for an "adult" libretto and I came up with a story about a mean little book club that meets on Zoom for the first time at the end of April, 2020. It's a pretty bleak view about our country during this crisis and the threat of totalitarianism (expressed in the mute button), but I hope you won't notice that with the work of our director Cara Consilvio, our conductor Andy Whitfield and our crazily stellar cast (Brenda Harris, Bill Burden, Donnie Ray Albert, Joyce Castle and Gabrielle Gilliam).  

Composer Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell worked for three years to adapt Stephen King's The Shining. Photo credit: Euan Kerr | MPR News (2016)

OI: In 2019, we were thrilled when you and Mason Bates won Grammys for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. It was also excellent to see you at Santa Fe Opera last summer to congratulate you in person. Interestingly, I watched the 2021 Grammy nominations via Twitter and didn't realize that you and Paul Moravec are nominated for Sanctuary Road, performed by Oratorio Society of New York (librettists not mentioned in Grammy noms, had no idea). Getting the full memo via Facebook (big congrats to you), I realized that it's impossible to keep up with opera's most prolific creative. In addition to a new, third oratorio with Mr. Moravec focused on voting rights, you mentioned a secret opera and The Secret River at Opera Orlando?

MC: Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous that the Grammys fail to credit the librettist for operas or choral works. (The Pulitzer does the same dumb thing, by the way.) Whining aside, I am very pleased with this nod from the Recording Academy for Sanctuary Road, a work I am very proud of. Paul is a master of musical drama and a fantastic collaborator and, yes, we are about to begin work on our third oratorio to complete a trilogy of operas about freedom. (Our second, A Nation of Others, set in Ellis Island in 1921, was to premiere at Carnegie Hall in May, again with the Oratorio Society of New York.)  By the way, we are turning Sanctuary Road into an opera with stage director Dennis Whitehead Darling, who will also be directing The Secret River (music by Stella Sung) at Opera Orlando. The "secret" opera still hasn't been announced but I will say that it is for Des Moines Metro Opera and is a many-acred thing. Other works waiting to premiere are A Sweet Silence in Cremona (composer: Roberto Scarcella Perino); Supermax (composer: Stewart Wallace, co-librettist, Michael Korie); Edward Tulane (composer: Paola Prestini); again and again. and again (composer: Conrad Cummings) and This Lingering Life (composer: Anne LeBaron, co-librettist Chiori Miyagawa).

OI: The Campbell Opera Librettist Prize (COLP) was announced in late July 2020, in association with OPERA America. The competition opens up December 15th, with the winning librettist selected by a panel of independent experts in May 2021. We did the "opera librettist award" Google and 95% of the entries on that first page were for this award! So, in addition to brilliant branding, what was the inspiration for this nearly only one of its kind recognition for opera librettists? 

MC: I've been very fortunate in that a number of my works (Silent Night, The Shining, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Sanctuary Road, Elizabeth Cree, As One—and more) generate decent income in royalties and will continue to do so after I'm gone. As I was preparing my will about a year ago, I thought about what I might be able to contribute to the future of American opera. It's no secret that I've been and continue to be an advocate for librettists through the Dramatists Guild's Librettist Initiative, which I co-chair with librettist Michael Korie. It was probably through my work there, that I identified that there are no awards specifically for opera librettists. So I decided to create one. And fund it. Our industry has some truly brilliant librettists working in it now; I view the COLP as a way for opera to build on that by continuing to attract the best theatre writers. 

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Learn more and apply for OPERA America’s Mark Campbell Opera Librettist Prize.

Tickets now available for the 14-24JAN digital streaming of Bernadette's Cozy Book Nook.

Press Contact: Barbara Hogenson | (212) 874-8084 | BHogenson@aol.com 

Visit markcampbellwords.com

Librettist Mark Campbell on Pop Music, Opera and 'the Lucy/Jessie Saga' of it all

Photo: Frances Marshall, Final Note Magazine.

(Santa Fe, NM) - In August 2015, I met librettist Mark Campbell at the press conference for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, his opera with composer Mason Bates. Consulting with Santa Fe Opera public relations, I took photos of the gents, live tweeted and (with coworker Anh Lê) launched the first live Periscope broadcast of a breaking news event by a North American opera company. Fast forward through (R)evolution workshops at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in September 2015 and September 2016, the 2017 Santa Fe Opera world premiere, in addition to the workshops, events and 2019 world premiere of Opera Parallele’s Today it Rains. Together, these events span the five years that my partner and I have become better acquainted with Mark’s landmark work, his authentic warmth, one-of-a-kind wit and a killer sense of humor. We’re glad to be friends as well as fans.

When I launched this series, I’d hoped Mark would agree to share his ideas (so grateful he did). Shortly after (R)evolution’s world premiere, I asked if he thought his and Mason’s opera could be successful on Broadway. “YES!” As Mark shares below, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs did, in fact, find its inspiration in pop music. Without further delay, a Grammy-winning librettist with some brilliantly crystallized thoughts. - JM

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By Mark Campbell

What a useless and corrupting little label “pop music” is. The word reared its ugly short head around 1926, reduced to a three-letter palindrome from the phrase “music with popular appeal,” and was devised by marketeers to distinguish music that you could hum or dance to from an equally inane label, “Classical music,” which might break your ears off. Separating music into labels like this does a disservice to both: pop music is considered cheap and lowly but fun and Classical music intellectual but boring. The comparison kind of reminds me of the Stephen Sondheim lyric from Follies, “The Story of Jessie and Lucy.”

“You see, Jessie is racy
But hard as a rock.
Lucy is lacy
But dull as a smock.
Jessie wants to be lacy,
Lucy wants to be Jessie.
That's the pitiful précis.
It's very messy.
Poor sad souls,
Itching to be switching roles.
Lucy wants to do what Jessie does,
Jessie wants to be what Lucy was.”

 When we try to apply the term “pop” to music composed for opera it becomes even more complicated. For a very long time—indeed throughout most of opera’s history—opera music was considered pop music. People listened to arias from operas as they would listen to the latest hit from Taylor Swift today. Sadly, critics and academics started to condemn anything that might be perceived as pop music in opera as frivolous and pandering about the same time audiences began to condemn contemporary opera for its lack of “tunes.” It’s the “Lucy/Jessie saga” all over again. And that has pretty much created a lose/lose situation for opera. 

 It has also created a horrible struggle when we have to find words to describe a new work. We are sometimes forced to use the word “accessible” to define a composer’s sound, lest we scare off our audience and sell no tickets. But “accessible” only means “similar to music you’ve heard before,” which reduces the composer’s voice by making it seem unoriginal. And composers get the damned if you do/damned if you don’t scenario when they are taught to write as complicated and alienating as they can to appease critics’ and academics’ claim of superiority over audiences. 

 My own work as an opera librettist isn’t seriously affected by this issue. But what actually makes a tune a tune is not how the notes are arranged but an audience’s familiarity with it—or how often a composer chooses to repeat a melody. And the repeat of a melody usually requires a librettist to know how to write using song structure in which sections of songs repeat in scansion and rhyme scheme—like you find in “pop music.” 

 There should be no shame in stealing from pop music. There should be no shame if a composer hears a sound in pop music that will help them tell a story truthfully. Mason Bates’ music for The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs certainly finds inspiration in pop music—but it also perfectly captures the period and the soul of its titular subject; and there is not a moment in that score that isn’t a challenging and complex as any in the modern repertoire. Similarly, Paul Moravec’s brilliant music for the score of The Shining contains true arias—even those that follow the pop song structure of AABA. But it always does what the story demands and never panders or strives to be “accessible.”

Since I don’t believe in the separation of pop music and Classical music and love both forms, I don’t think one or the other can save opera. What will save opera—if it needs saving—is music by composers that doesn’t fall on either the Jessie or Lucy side of these labels.  Opera will only succeed if composers are good storytellers and continue to write in their own voices. And…if we tell stories that are relevant to the times in which we live.   

Mark Campbell is represented by The Barbara Hogenson Agency

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Mark Campbell at The Santa Fe Opera | August 10, 2019 | Photo: James Mowdy