Setting the bar high with Santa Fe Opera General Director Robert K. Meya

Setting the bar high with Santa Fe Opera General Director Robert K. Meya

Author: The Santa Fe Opera April 24, 2021 Duration: 37:35

The Santa Fe Opera is back! Actually, SFO never went away (hello, digital performances, and nice to meet you, TikTok!) It'll take more than a pandemic to knock a 60-something legend off its game.

Still, 2020 served this iconic organization its share of questions to consider. How does a world-class company safely reintroduce audiences to its artistry (and vice versa)? Which "lockdown lessons" does it carry forward? And what conversations should it advance - both onstage and off - in support of our country's racial reckoning? 

In this episode, host Jane Trembley and special guest Robert K. Meya, General Director, discuss the exciting return of artists and audiences to SFO's striking, spaceship-like open-air stage. But before live music rings out across the high desert, the pair pull back the curtain on challenges and changes prompted by the past year. 

But the reveal doesn't end there. Jane and Robert also discuss exciting programming planned for 2021 and announce exclusive details surrounding the company's 2022 Season.

Like a live wire waiting to connect, there's excitement of another kind coursing through this conversation as well: what can opera, and specifically SFO, offer a generation so intimately engaged with their screens? The question doesn't phase either Jane or Robert. They look forward to the future of opera, noting that the art form isn't weighed down by its past nor at odds with the digital age; it's energized by both. 

Robert shares his own origin story, leading teens in search of the ultimate creative home by example of his career journey. Discussion about opera's collaborative vitality as well as SFO's apprentice program sparks further personal recollections from both Jane and Robert.

No episode, however, is complete without the one question that exposes a guest's true psyche: red or green? This is Santa Fe, after all, a place that's serious about its chile! Robert's answer and local recommendations add extra spice to the conversation!

The 2021 Season

The Marriage of Figaro

The Lord of Cries

Eugene Onegin

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Angel Blue in Concert

Apprentice Showcase Scenes

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Destination Santa Fe Opera is a Santa Fe Opera podcast, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.

Mixed by: Edwin R. Ruiz

Hosted by: Jane Trembley

Featuring: Robert K. Meya, General Director, The Santa Fe Opera

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Learn more about the Santa Fe Opera and plan your visit at http://www.santafeopera.org.

We'd love for you to join us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok @santafeopera. 


Behind every curtain call at The Santa Fe Opera is a world of craft, history, and human effort. Destination Santa Fe Opera pulls back that curtain, offering a rare backstage pass to the artists, technicians, designers, and visionaries who bring the spectacle to life. This podcast is a series of intimate, revealing conversations that go far beyond the performance notes. You’ll hear from a costume designer about the weight and meaning of a single garment, from a singer unraveling the emotional core of a challenging role, or from a stage director mapping the journey from concept to opening night. It’s about the problem-solving, the collaboration, and the occasional happy accident that defines a season. Each episode connects you to the living, breathing process of opera, focusing on the people whose dedicated work transforms a New Mexico evening into something unforgettable. Listen for stories about musical discovery, artistic risk, and the sheer logistical marvel of mounting world-class productions against a backdrop of southwestern skies. Produced by The Santa Fe Opera, this series is an essential companion for anyone curious about the alchemy that happens when countless disciplines converge to create a single, powerful story in song.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 31

Destination Santa Fe Opera
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