5 Questions with Mark and Jonathan about Aperture and the world premiere of its first commission Dolores by Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch
Mark and Jonathan reflect on the journey from the beginning of Aperture to yet another World Premiere.
General Director Mark Streshinsky and Music Director Jonathan Khuner
Aperture was West Edge Opera’s ambitious new opera development project from 2020-2022 when live performance was not possible. Harnessing online capabilities, we provided over 40 composers and librettists the opportunity to develop their works, connecting with subscribers and supporters. Dolores, by creative team Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch, is the first commission to be awarded. After multiple workshops with partners, Dolores arrives at its world premiere and will travel to San Diego Opera, The Broad Stage in Santa Monica and Opera Southwest in Albuquerque.
Aperture is a program that was born out of the shutdown of "business as usual" due to covid. What were you feeling as leaders of an organization at that time and what spurred you to create Aperture?
MS: When we realized we had to shut down, my focus shifted to making sure all our people were paid something even though the season was cancelled. Being able to do that was something I will always be proud of. Once we had accomplished that, I started thinking about what we could do. Other companies were exploring online content. This kept many companies afloat and audiences engaged. I have never been a fan of watching opera on a screen, so I never considered West Edge in that space. Jonathan and I leaned into our experiences developing new opera and I expressed the desire to explore that. What really created the spark of this idea was a zoom conversation with my dear friend, opera composer Clint Borzoni. Clint loved reality shows and mentioned a fantasy about a show where every week a composer and their opera get voted off the island. We both laughed and said - what a horrifying idea. But then I thought of my favorite reality show… What if it was more like the Great British Bake Off? And what if it was completely online? That was how Aperture was born.
JK: The leadership of West Edge Opera were meeting by Zoom from the beginning of the Covid lockdown, searching for ways to keep creating art, especially when we had to cancel our central summer 2020 festival. After a month or so, we saw innovation in the new webspace flatten and we were frustrated because we couldn’t do anything in real public time. We learned from the various attempts at creating new audience experiences we were seeing. In brainstorming sessions, we came up with our plan for a self-sustaining, internet-mediated but live-connection-based project for creating exciting new works, which would engage our audience as observers, commentators, and sponsors of the most imaginative new way of creating opera. I felt a combination of foreboding, excitement, and optimism that we were charting a great new direction in creating an artistic outlet for the energy of the time.
What were your expectations in creating such an innovative project?
MS: The expectations were developed over many hours of zoom brainstorming. I insisted on investing $60K on a commission that one project would get in the end. Boy did we fight over that! That promise garnered a wide range of interest from experienced people, both famous and in some cases- very young and inexperienced. My biggest expectation was that this would break down barriers of entry to the art form. We wanted two videos filmed on your phone: First video: A short introduction. Second Video: What is your project? We got over eighty applications. Half of the projects were by and about people of color. The other half were projects by and about women. I knew I could not, as the head of the company, make the decisions alone. We gathered a tight group of eight curators. Our dear Michael Morgan was one. This group spent hours discussing what we were seeing. I wanted to build a community of fans of Aperture who would support with a membership to be included in the process. They were amazing!
JK: We expected a hard sell, but we gathered captive audience, since our patrons, too, were stuck at home. I thought that individuals would be drawn to Aperture because of the live component, the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the process and witness the brilliance of the artists whose projects we could help develop. I was very happy to be giving our partners something new and creative to do while being cooped up!
What surprised you once you got into the heart of the work?
MS: How great the artists were with each other. My biggest surprise, when we did the first post-mortem, was the revelation that everyone hated making videos of themselves. Almost all of them obsessed over editing their videos - even though we told them not to. They were required to do a weekly vlog and record zoom video of the teams work together. Don’t get me wrong - everyone loved the program and enjoyed being able to work while stuck at home. I seem to have the ability to turn on my camera, talk, push stop and send it in. I had no idea that most people don’t
JK: I was most surprised by how responsive prospective creators were to our call for ideas. The project was attractive, and artists were inspired. It was devilishly hard for us to narrow down the large field to just a few chosen participants. I was amazed at how sensitive, smart, and unique the ideas of our Aperture curators were, and how willing colleagues were to spend a great deal of time in all phases of the project. It took a dedicated West Edge staff to pull together. Aperture really deepened my respect for the talents and commitment of my WEO colleagues.
What does it mean to you and the field to help creators bring their works to life?
MS: I’m extremely proud of it. This work gave all of us life and hope for the future. I was disappointed that the field hadn’t embraced the new possibilities. This new use of zoom-based collaboration in commissioning and developing new operas made the process less expensive and more convenient. We even did workshops on zoom! We felt that the program would be held up and celebrated as a new way forward. While organizations were trying to get back to business as usual, we pushed the envelope and were having a great time. From our efforts, we have commissioned 3 new operas.
JK: I feel that it’s the most important thing we can do with the company. I’m proud that we advanced so many projects. Even if only a few make it to completion, I am proud of our efforts. It feels great to have stimulated creativity and made so many new friends along the way. At a time of artistic paralysis, I’m very happy that we found such a successful path forward.
Dolores is a product of Aperture. How does it feel to see it about to have its World Premiere?
MS: It's wonderful! What has also been interesting about this piece is that because of the power of subject, we’ve found partners at other companies to co-commission. Working with them has been very gratifying and challenging. Ultimately very worth it!
JK: It’s wonderful! The challenges at the start of the process were so daunting. It feels good to see the validity of “if there’s a will, there’s a way.” Dolores is the fruit of a lot of labor.
Bonus Question: How does developing a new piece differ from working on something with years of history?
JK: I’d say that there is a difference in the kind of ever-present worry one experiences with new versus old works. Both have great challenges. With an old opera, you must live up to familiar expectations and then step beyond them to give the audience a fresh experience. But the territory is known, and in many ways planning is much easier. With a new opera, there’s always the possibility of a complete fiasco and complaints of wasted resources, but there’s also, much more excitement and a greater feeling of accomplishment at the end of the process - - something beautiful &/or powerful exists where nothing existed before.
