Happy New Year!
2025 recap and a 2026 preview
Dear Friends, Family and Supporters,
I am so grateful to all of you for your love and support! 2025 has been a very fulfilling year for me professionally, and 2026 promises to be even more fruitful, with a lot of upcoming collaborations and performances with wonderful musicians and artist.
As many of you know, in February I was awarded an OPERA America Discovery Grant for female composers. That project, The Morpheus Quartet is in progress, and will receive it’s working performance in June 2026 (details below)!
In April, I had the opportunity to write a scene from The Lovesick Skunk for Amy Owens and the Young Voices of Santa Fe Opera. Andrea Fellows Fineberg wrote the libretto, and two young singers, Eleanor Lucas and Ava Mitchie, brought to life an aria and duet of a young skunk falling in love with a stinky pair of shoes, and the jealous lover spraying the shoes in revenge. The full story will be performed in 2026 (details below)! OPERA America Magazine also interviewed me about the project for an article on Children’s Opera which will be part of the Winter edition being released soon.
In November, I got to travel (back) to Prague to perform my song cycle Two Worlds with two amazing and talented musicians: baritone Tadeaš Hoza and pianist Ahmad Hedar. I had the pleasure of staying with my wonderful librettist, Aleš Navrátil, and received two glowing reviews of the work. Special thanks to Tamara Morozová for including the work as part of a Lieder Society concert. I can’t share any details yet, but Two Worlds will be performed again in the U.S. in 2026.
And now, the stuff to look forward to in 2026!
April 25, 2026 Santa Fe, NM, The Lensic: The Young Voices of Santa Fe under the direction of Amy Owens, give the world premiere of The Lovesick Skunk, based on the story by local Santa Fe author Joe Hayes, with libretto by Andrea Fellows Fineberg.
May 10, 2026 Albuquerque, NM, 5pm, Popejoy Hall: Albuquerque Youth Symphony will premiere a new work by me which was commissioned through the Sing Me a Story Foundation. The work will tell a story written by a boy named Hunter who had a rare condition that required a heart transplant. I will be working with the High School Youth Orchestra under the direction of Rafael Videira to create a musical version of Hunter’s Story.
June 14, 2026 Albuquerque, NM, 3pm, Keller Hall: The working performance of The Morpheus Quartet will take place. I have been working with Cori Ellison on adapting the original play by John Glore into a suitable libretto, and will be completing writing the opera soon. I have assembled a wonderful set of singers and string players for the performance: Amy Owens, Hannah Shepard, Natacha Condor, and Michael Hix singing, and the UNM faculty string quartet, Cármelo de los Santos, Aaron Jacobs, Travis Martin and Christoph Wagner, playing. Kristin Ditlow will be the Music Director. I am so fortunate to be working with such wonderful musicians, and am so excited to see this project that had its first roots almost 10 years ago, come to life.
Fall 2026 ???? Location ????, but definitely coming soon… Two Worlds plus a newly commissioned work for Slovak American soprano Julia Radosz, with Kristin Ditlow, piano, setting poems by Eva Staranova.
Thanks again for your support, and may your 2026 be full of light and life!