Points Unknown: Exploring Our Relationship To Otherness Through The Pigeon Keeper

To workshop a new opera in front of an audience is a little like agreeing to a trust fall: at some point, you’ve just got to surrender to the unknown and… trust. Andrea Fellows Fineberg and Anna Garcia return to the orchestral workshop for The Pigeon Keeper, a collaboration between Santa Fe Opera’s Opera For All Voices (OFAV) initiative and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD). Andrea and Anna introduce folks to Caitlin Lynch, Assistant Professor of Music at U-M, and Jayce Ogren, Director of Contemporary Directions Ensemble at U-M, the visionary duo responsible for bringing The Pigeon Keeper to the campus. Together they go behind the scenes of OperaLab, their new initiative to connect SMTD students with opportunities to workshop and perform contemporary music from living composers. They also explore how the themes of the opera connect to modern realities with student musicians; learn about community support for refugees, asylum seekers, and others seeking humanitarian protection with Freedom House Detroit; and find out what advice principal artists would give to future cast members. The episode ends with audience reflections on loss, exclusion, and opera as a catalyst for hard conversation. “The arts,” said one workshop goer, “can facilitate tangible action, dialogue, and change that can come from this emotionally resonating work.” It’s insights like this that keep OFAV commissioning new works and collaborating in inventive ways. Learn more about Freedom House Detroit at freedomhousedetroit.org. FEATURING: Rebecca Clark - Cover for Orsia Ava Hawkins - Ensemble Jamiyah Hudson - Ensemble Tyrese Byrd - Cover for The Pigeon Keeper Caitlin Lynch - Assistant Professor of Music at U-M Jayce Ogren - Director of Contemporary Directions Ensemble at U-M David Hanlon - Composer, The Pigeon Keeper Daniel Millan - Clarinet Lulu Nester, Engagement Coordinator, Freedom House Detroit David Siebert, volunteer, Freedom House Detroit Nathan Harah - Kosmo Bernard Holcomb - The Pigeon Keeper, The Widow Grocer, The Schoolteacher And numerous students and audience members. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance SMTD OperaLab Contemporary Directions Ensemble Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio Freedom House Detroit The House On Mango Street opera University Philharmonia Orchestra THE PIGEON KEEPER CREATIVE TEAM: David Hanlon, Composer Stephanie Fleischmann, Librettist Kelly Kuo, Music Director And Conductor RELATED EPISODES: Season 2 Episode 4 - Hope Is the Thing