Composer and librettist Maestro Héctor Armienta will give a talk to the Santa Fe Opera Guild on Tuesday, October 18 about Zorro, his new opera that will be performed by Opera Southwest in October. This event will be held at the Santa Fe Woman’s Club on Old Pecos Trail.
Maestro Armienta will discuss his creative process and philosophical approach to composing music and writing an opera libretto. Maestro Armienta states on his website, “I’m neither Mexican or American, but Mexican-American. Like my work, I exist in and in-between these two cultural worlds. Drawing on my training as a classical composer, my mission is to reinvent classical musicalforms by incorporating music from both sides of the border… Recently, I've been digging deeper into my distant cultural heritage - Spain. My newest opera, Zorro (set in Los Angeles in the 1800s), incorporates Spanish music including flamenco.”
Maestro Armienta’s opera Zorro had its world premiere on April 26, 2022, at the Fort Worth Opera. It will be performed with a full orchestra by Opera Southwest in Albuquerque on October 23, 26, 28, and 30. The Maestro is already familiar to Opera Southwest audiences; he composed Bless Me, Ultima, based on the novel by Rudolfo Anaya, which was performed by OSW in the 2017/18 season.
Maestro Armienta devotes considerable time to Opera Cultura, an organization that he founded and continues to manage and serves on the board of Opera America. His association with these organizations fulfills his mission to explore his Mexican-American heritage through the cultural lens of opera and classical music.
Kathleen Wilson, the Santa Fe Opera Guild’s incoming Vice President of Education, said, “We are very excited to have our first in-person educational event since the start of the pandemic and to welcome Maestro Armienta as our guest. Our members have been looking forward to this.” This event is free for all Guild members, and $10 for non-members. Masks are strongly encouraged.