Safe Space for Creative Risks with Community Engagement and Education
Safe Space for Creative Risks with Community Engagement and Education
Bet you didn’t know that nurturing the next generation of opera performers, technicians, and enthusiasts begins in classrooms. Join Key Change co-hosts Anna Garcia and Olga Perez Flora on an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Santa Fe Opera Department of Community Engagement and Education, featuring guest appearances by Season 5 favorites Charles Gamble, Director of Community Engagement, and Marissa Aurora, Community Engagement Liaison, plus new friend Olivia Dorrell, Administrative Coordinator.
“We’re all moved by the extraordinary pageantry, music, and movement of opera,” says Charles. “I’ll be honest with you, though; the thing that most excites me is the process of being able to engage in that process with young humans and watching them do the heavy lifting of being artists.”
Santa Fe Opera’s myriad school programs and summer camps introduce children as young as three to the collaborative spirit of opera, while professional development workshops help teachers use opera to facilitate learning.
Internships provide an essential point of entry for college-aged talent. “It’s been really rewarding to see and hear from the students how it’s opening their world to a lot of career paths that they didn’t think were possible in New Mexico,” says Marissa.
Other initiatives like volunteer opportunities, the Pueblo Opera Cultura Council, and the Pueblo Opera Program ensure that Santa Fe continues to be a welcoming environment for all. Oliva agrees. “It’s always lovely to welcome so many patrons to the preview dinners, some seasoned opera-goers and some attending the opera for the first time.”
FEATURING
Charles Gamble, Director Of Community Engagement
Marissa Aurora, Community Engagement Liaison
Olivia Dorrell, Administrative Coordinator
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Opera Storytellers Summer Camp | Santa Fe Opera
Pueblo Opera Program | Santa Fe Opera
Pueblo Opera Cultural Council | Santa Fe Opera
ALTO: Arts Integration | Santa Fe Opera
Guilds Of Santa Fe Opera, Inc
Opera Theatre | University Of New Mexico
Albuquerque Academy
Northern New Mexico College
The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts
Lucio Silla 2005 | Santa Fe Opera
Der Rosenkavalier | Santa Fe Opera
The Turn of the Screw | Santa Fe Opera
Die Walküre | Santa Fe Opera
La bohème | Santa Fe Opera
“Catching Up on Key Change” Recommended Playlist
An Opportunity to Encounter Excellence (and Big News!)
Making Learning Sticky: Creative Compassion for Kids & Educators Through Opera with Charles Gamble
Harmony in Process: The Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera with Amy “Process” Owens
What’s Opera to a Bunch of High School Students? Young Voices, “The New Crop”
Story With Purpose: The Origin of the Pueblo Opera Cultural Council with Renee Roybal and Claudene A. Martinez
Spark of Imagination: Generations of the Pueblo Opera Program with Sonja & Seth Martinez
From Gardening to Greeting Guests, Volunteers Run the World! with Marissa Aurora, Artist & Volunteer Liaison
QUOTES
“The more opportunities that we can give young humans to cooperate and to collaborate, recognizing that those are two different things, the better off, the more human they are and the better off we all are.”
– Charles Gamble
“We need that delight. That delight, it’s a real thing, and it’s enduring.”
– Charles Gamble
“Teachers are my heroes, and not just from the way that teachers saved my life. Seeing what extraordinary educators can do for the youth of New Mexico that gives me so much energy!”
– Charles Gamble
“It’s been really rewarding and just really fabulous to see and hear from the students, how it’s really opening their world to a lot of career paths that they didn’t think were possible in New Mexico.”
– Marissa Aurora
“I have really had my eyes open to just the tremendous amount of talent that goes into producing an opera and the diversity of skill sets needed to make it happen.”
– Marissa Aurora
“The most satisfying part of my job is just all the different people I get to interact with on a day-to-day basis. I’m lucky to work with people who are of all ages and also just different relationships to opera, from schoolchildren learning about the hero’s journey to opera experts.”
– Olivia Dorrell
CREDITS
Key Change is a production of The Santa Fe Opera, Department of Community Engagement & Education.
Produced & Edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios
Hosted by Anna Garcia & Olga Perez Flora
Audio Engineer Collin Ungerleider & Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Technical Director Edwin R. Ruiz
Production Support from Alex Riegler
Show Notes by Lisa Widder
Theme Music by Rene Orth with Corrie Stallings, mezzo-soprano, and Joe Becktell, cello
Cover Art by Dylan Crouch
This podcast is made possible due to the generous funding from the Hankins Foundation, Principal Education Sponsor of the Santa Fe Opera.