Arts Alive San Antonio

by JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

When and why did you come to San Antonio?
My very first show in San Antonio was “The Barber of Seville” in the spring of 2018. In the early years, our founder, Mel Weingart, was looking to establish a relationship with one or more well-known opera companies to help him produce opera in San Antonio. One of those was the Glimmerglass Festival which, at that time, was run by my mentor, Francesca Zambelo. She and Mel talked about bringing a Glimmerglass production here, and Francesca recommended me as the director. And when this opportunity came up, I said “yes” and that’s what lead up to where we are today.

Why did you say “yes.?
As a free-lance stage director, which I was at the time, I was working to fill my schedule with about eight to ten directorial opportunities a year. “Barber” was a show I was really interested in directing. Also, I had heard about the Tobin Center, and the kind of work that could potentially happen in Opera San Antonio; and I wanted to build that relationship between Glimmerglass and San Antonio. I was able to negotiate a contract… It was a fantastic choice!

When was OSA officially founded?
The founding papers go back to 2010, when the efforts to transform the Municipal Auditorium into the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts were in the initial stages. The desire to create an opera company that would be a resident company at the Tobin was then developed in tandem with the development of the Tobin Center.

So, what anniversary is OSA celebrating this year?
Historically, companies mark their anniversaries off their first season of production, which for us was 2014-15. The company was founded before we had our first season. So, now we are celebrating our tenth anniversary in 2024-25 season.

Do you want to stay with OSA for the next ten years?
I haven’t been here for ten years yet! (laughs). I just came in 2018. But I’ll tell you what I was excited about in 2018 – everything I had hoped for – a beautiful company, a great venue, opera that can be produced at an extremely high level – all of my hopes and dreams come true. And, certainly, running an opera company is not without its challenges – and there have been many – but I really feel that what we do, and will do for our community, is well worth the effort.

What operas did you produce?
We did “Barber” in 2018 which quickly led to other work. I soon returned to work on a production of “La Boheme” and then, in the following season we did “Tosca.” That led to my being named general and artistic director.

Let’s talk about what’s coming up in 2024-25. The OSA website lists “Madame Butterfly” and something that’s much less familiar “Cruzar La Cara de la Luna,” which means “To Cross the Face of the Moon.” Could you tell us more about that?
We lovingly call it “The Mariachi Opera” Basically, it is a story that bisects countries – Mexico and the United States, and it bisects generations, and it’s a really heartwarming story about a family divided by a border, that reunites after years of being apart. This piece was the first part in a trilogy first created by the Houston Grand Opera, which premiered in 2010. The show is co-produced with Mariachi Campanas de America.

How difficult is it to get top talent to perform in San Antonio?
It is wonderfully fun and wonderfully difficult. So, we plan for all our shows at least three years in advance. It’s a long process but once they are all here, we rehearse and perform in less than a month.

If you had no financial restrictions whatsoever, what operas would you like to produce?
(Laughs) With my CEO hat on, I think there are pieces that we are very eager to do. That includes things like “The Magic Flute” or “The Marriage of Figaro,” and even bringing back pieces that we have done before but presenting them in a new light, like “Carmen.” And we should be pushing into new territory. Now, how do we do that? Could we produce something new like a Steve Jobs opera? Or continue Spanish language programming? If there are no budget worries, all of those should be works that we are looking at.

What’s your favorite opera?
I would say I am not a “favorites” person. I tend to fall in love with what I am working on. It’s a good thing to do for a creative artist, to have my heart invested into what I am presenting.

Are there new composers who are creating new things, bringing new voices to the stage?
There are lots of composers who are creating new works. What is difficult is to sustain them and produce them at a level that allows them to really flourish and create new “Carmens” or “Boheme.” Producing new operas is expensive.
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