Release date: 6/30/2021
July 11: The Zarzuela
July 18: Baroque Opera in the New World
July 25: Contemporary Latin Stage Works
DEC events_July 2021.pdf Photos
San Francisco Opera’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Community (DEC) announced new Opera Aficionado virtual conversations in July centered on Opera in Latin America. The live, 75-minute Zoom discussions offer music lovers around the world a front-row seat to scholarly talks and conversations and an opportunity to dialogue with fellow opera enthusiasts and special guests. Speakers in July include Emilio Sagi, director of San Francisco Opera stagings of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Carlo and Otello; musicologist Laura Prichard and multidisciplinary artist Albert Montañez.
For tickets and more information, visit sfopera.com/aficionado
OPERA AFICIONADO CALENDAR
(programs subject to change)
JULY: OPERA IN LATIN AMERICA
This July, join San Francisco Opera’s interactive lecture series, Opera Aficionado, for a summer vacation south of the border, no mask or passport required. Ports of call include the origins of sacred choral music and Baroque opera in the New World, contemporary Latinx stories written for today’s stage and the Zarzuela, the beloved Spanish tradition of musical storytelling. Journey each Sunday through music and time as we rediscover a centuries-old cultural landscape in which opera continues to thrive.
- Sunday, July 11, 1 pm: The Zarzuela
Speaker: Stage Director Emilio Sagi
Originating at a palatial, 17th-century hunting lodge near Madrid, the Zarzuela is a dramatic form of musical storytelling that once dominated the stages of Spanish-speaking counties in worlds both old and new. Opera stage director Emilio Sagi will lead us on a historical survey of an art form rarely appreciated—or even known—in modern-day America
- Sunday, July 18, 1 pm: Baroque Opera in the New World
Speaker: Laura Prichard
The arrival of Spanish colonists in what they thought was a “new world” forever changed human civilization and its course in history. Laura Prichard will travel with us back in time to the Baroque Era in Latin America, where unique forms of classical music and opera flourished. From boy choirs singing a cappella to the lost operatic works of Mexican composers like Manuel de Zumaya, this lecture will have you yelling Bravo! for all things Mexican Baroque.
- Sunday, July 25, 1 pm: Contemporary Latin Stage Works
Speaker: Albert Montañez
In today’s operatic landscape, the old classics still reign, and the roster of new works premiered by major companies is dominated by composers of European and American birth. Meanwhile, composers throughout Latin America continue to tell their own stories and heritage through our beloved art form of opera. Multidisciplinary artist Albert Montañez returns to Opera Aficionado to shine a spotlight on new stage works from the contemporary Latinx world.
*For the complete press release please view the attached PDF.