Arts Venues, Brand, Brand Values, C-Suite, Business Development, Business of Opera, Branding, China, Working Conditions, Composer, Librettist, Best Practices James Mowdy Arts Venues, Brand, Brand Values, C-Suite, Business Development, Business of Opera, Branding, China, Working Conditions, Composer, Librettist, Best Practices James Mowdy

Kennedy Center thoughts from Grammy-winning librettist Mark Campbell

(Santa Fe, NM) - I met librettist Mark Campbell in 2015, while he and composer Mason Bates were finalizing their Grammy-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. I also had the honor of being at its Santa Fe Opera world premiere in 2017. During the pandemic, he even wrote a piece for OI. But with the arrival of a new regime in Washington, and the hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center by Trump, a political lapdog, and a new board of loyalist supporters, I wanted to know how Mark felt about Washington National Opera’s production of Jobs, which closed two weeks ago…

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Classical Voice, Television, Dance Music, Pop Culture, Composer, Film Composer Margaret Thompson Classical Voice, Television, Dance Music, Pop Culture, Composer, Film Composer Margaret Thompson

When Henry, Klaus, Hans and Faithless Went Clubbing

Klaus Nomi was genius. Having accidentally discovered him during the pandemic, I went down the rabbit hole on this legendary, German pop-countertenor who left us in August 1983, succumbing to AIDS. Exploring his catalogue on Apple Music (recommended), we began listening to “The Cold Song,” immediately realizing we were hearing notes originally written by English Baroque composer Henry Purcell…

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