Digital After Hours: Latina Composers

Peruvian- and Mexican-American soprano Vanessa Becerra is a recent graduate of LA Opera’s prestigious Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, praised for her “bold and bright” singing (Opera News), “full, beautifully focused” instrument (Wall Street Journal)  and “charismatic and eloquent” presence (San Francisco Chronicle).  

In the 2019/20 season, Vanessa made her Kennedy Center debut with Washington National Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, as well as her debut with Houston Grand Opera as La Mujer in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, receiving respective accolades for her “clarion soprano,” “lithe sound,” and “crystal-clear” tone. The previous season Ms. Becerra enjoyed a hugely successful summer debuting Maria in Francesca Zambello’s production of West Side Story at the Glimmerglass Festival leading to a string of reprisals at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Atlanta Opera, and furthermore made her international debut in the role with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra in Latvia.

Also in the 2018/19 season, Ms. Becerra joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera and returned to Opera Omaha for her highly acclaimed portrayal of Lise in Philip Glass’s Les enfants terribles. Due to COVID-19 several engagements have been cancelled including her homecoming performances as Adele in Die Fledermaus with Fort Worth Opera, her role debut as Rosina in The Barber of Seville with Amarillo Opera, and another heroine debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Omaha. As of now, Ms. Becerra can look forward to her role and house debut as Susanna with Virginia Opera in the coming spring.

The 2017/18 season saw numerous debuts for Ms. Becerra with exciting companies such as the LA Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel (Papagena in The Magic Flute), San Francisco Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas (Paquettein Candide), Lyric Opera of Chicago (Miss Lightfoot in Fellow Travelers), Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera (Sophie in Werther), Opera Omaha (Glauce in Medea), and Atlanta Opera (Johanna in Sweeney Todd). Following her debut with Opera San Jose as Musetta in La Bohème she returned as the title role in Alma Deutscher's celebrated Cinderella with Jane Glover on the podium (currently distributed via Sony Classical on DVD). For her performance Operawire stated, "Soprano Vanessa Becerra sings Cinderella with vivacious, ardent and luminous voice, coasting through the various musical moods the young composer has set for her with 'elan' and great warmth." 

During her time with LA Opera, appearances included Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro, Papagena in The Magic Flute, Annina in La Traviata, Gossip 2 in the Grammy Award-winning recording of The Ghosts of Versailles (all with maestro James Conlon), and in concert as a featured soloist with bass-baritone Erwin Schrott. Ms. Becerra enjoys a long relationship with the Glimmerglass Festival where in 2017 she returned as a guest artist to portray Laurey in Oklahoma! receiving praise for her “silken soprano” and “lilting radiance.” This followed her two summers in their young artist program where she portrayed Musetta in La Bohème (“a scene-stealing minx with a glorious soprano voice”), and Pamina in their Young Artist Performance of The Magic Flute. 

Ms. Becerra’s professional debut came in 2014 with Fort Worth Opera in the world premiere of With Blood, With Ink. She “brought passionate theatrical intensity to Young Juana” (Wall Street Journal) and her “sunny, youthfully appealing soprano created an irresistible characterization” (Opera News). Shortly following her debut, Ms. Becerra received her master’s degree from the Boston Conservatory, which invited her as a featured alumna to perform in their 150th Anniversary Gala at Boston’s renowned Symphony Hall. 

Other training programs include the Wolf Trap Opera Company, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Seagle Music Colony. She received her bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University as a Nordan Full-Tuition Scholarship recipient and is a proud graduate of the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts. Ms. Becerra is passionate about volunteer service and has built a network of serving those in need in Houston, Texas; Silver Spring, Maryland; New York City; Los Angeles; and her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.

Learn more at VanessaBecerra.com.

A winner of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli is a recent graduate of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, where he covered Nadir in The Pearl Fishers.

In 2018, Mr. Santelli made his Dayton Opera debut as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. In 2019, he performed the role of Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore with Virginia Opera. On the concert stage, he sang the tenor solo in Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht with the Sacramento Choral Society and Handel's Messiah with the Boise Philharmonic. In April 2021, he makes his debut with San Diego Opera where he will reprise Almaviva.

Recent projects with LA Opera include performances in Salome, conducted by James Conlon, and in Wonderful Town, conducted by Grant Gershon. Additionally, Mr. Santelli appeared as a guest soloist in a special gala celebrating the 10-year anniversary of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. Further collaborations on the West Coast include numerous projects with LA Opera’s Artist-in-Residence Matthew Aucoin.

For two summers, Mr. Santelli was a member of Santa Fe Opera’s distinguished Apprentice Artist Program where he worked with such noted conductors as Harry Bicket, Emmanuel Villaume, and Corrado Rovaris. The summer of 2017 was a particularly notable season for Mr. Santelli as he made his principal role debut with the company as Arturo in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. His scene work there included Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and Arnold in Guillaume Tell.

Carlos Enrique Santelli’s concert engagements have included appearances as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah (with the Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra), Mozart’s Coronation Mass (with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra), and Mozart’s Requiem (with the University of Michigan/Yale Alumni Glee Club).

Mr. Santelli received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music from the University of Michigan. It was at the latter institution that he had the distinction of holding a Jessye Norman Graduate Fellowship.

Learn more at CarlosEnriqueSantelli.com.

Mexican-American baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco has been praised for his “voluminous baritone and beautiful legato.”

His performances during the COVID-19 impacted 2020/21 season include his Swiss debut as Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas with Theater St. Gallen and Escamillo in Carmen with Pensacola Opera.

Luis began the 2019/20 season with Cincinnati Opera singing Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Opera in Williamsburg singing Zurga in The Pearl Fishers, then joined Opera Roanoke to sing Silvio in their production of Pagliacci. With Opera Santa Barbara, he debuted the role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, followed by performances as the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana with Wichita Symphony Orchestra. He essayed the bass solos in part one of Handel’s Messiah with Las Vegas Philharmonic, appeared as Maximillian in Candide with Syracuse Opera, and Escamillo with Florentine Opera in their production of The Tragedy of Carmen.

During the summer of 2018, Luis appeared as Escamillo in Carmen with Mill City Summer Opera, and traveled across Russia in a concert tour honoring Bernstein. His 2018/19 season began with his Arizona Opera company debut, singing El Payador in Maria de Buenos Aires. He joined both Opera Santa Barbara and Anchorage Opera as Marcello in La Bohème, and returned to the role of Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas with Pensacola Opera.

Luis began the 2017/18 season with Mill City Summer Opera as El Payador in Maria de Buenos Aires, a role which also marked his debut with Nashville Opera and the Fort Worth Opera. He also made his debut with San Diego Opera as Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas, and returned to Syracuse Opera as Escamillo in Carmen, Anchorage Opera as Hannah before in As One, and New Orleans Opera as El Payador in Maria de Buenos Aires.

Previous seasons have included performances of Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Florentine Opera and Syracuse Opera, Escamillo in Carmen with Michigan Opera Theater, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Lyric Opera Baltimore, Opera Grand Rapids and Austin Lyric Opera, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore with Opera Santa Barbara, Riolobo in Florencia en el Amazonas with Washington National Opera and Arizona Opera, Hannah before in As One with Urban Arias, Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri with Opera Santa Barbara, Perichaud in La Rondine with Opera Theater St. Louis, the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Western Reserve, and Marcello in La Bohéme with Kentucky Opera. He is also known as the leading interpreter in the United States for the role of El Payador in Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires, a role which he has performed at Florida Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, and Anchorage Opera.

Learn more at LuisAlejandroOrozco.com.

The San Francisco Chronicle exclaims, “For theatrical charisma and musical bravado, it would be hard to top the performance of baritone Efraín Solís.” He is a recent graduate of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship and while with the company, sang his first performances of Papageno in The Magic Flute, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Schaunard in La Bohème, Silvano in Un Ballo in Maschera, Sciarrone in Tosca and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly.

Engagements for the 2020/21 season include joining Opera San Jose and Florida Grand Opera as Charlie in Heggie’s Three Decembers, Opera Santa Barbara for Malatesta in Don Pasquale, and Utah Opera as Escamillo in La tragédie de Carmen. Future engagements include Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera San Jose and a return to Opera Southwest. Last season, he returned to Utah Opera as Lieutenant Audebert in Puts’ Silent Night and Virginia Opera as Di Cosimo in Catán’s Il Postino and joining the Cincinnati Song Initiative for a program of songs by Granados and Turina. His debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the Peasant in Schönberg’s Gurrelieder and return to the role of Schaunard in La Bohème with Fort Worth Opera were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

He joined Houston Grand Opera’s HGOCo, New York City Opera, and El Paso Opera as Mark in Martinez’s Cruzar la cara de la luna. Other recent performances for the baritone include Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Utah Opera, Opera Carolina, Virginia Opera and Toledo Opera; Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Memphis and Livermore Valley Opera; Slook in La Cambiale di Matrimonio with Nicholas McGegan conducting Philharmonia Baroque; El Payador in Piazzola’s Maria de Buenos Aires with Opera Southwest, Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande and Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox with West Edge Opera; Fiesque in Maria di Rohan with Washington Concert Opera, Gaspar in Rita with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and Dick in Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock with Opera Saratoga. He joined both Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera for concerts of opera favorites.

Mr. Solis sang his first performances of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Palo Alto Philharmonic and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem as a guest artist at Concordia College. He joined the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra for Britten’s War Requiem and both Las Vegas Philharmonic and New Choral Society for Handel’s Messiah. An active recitalist, he has previous joined the New York Festival of Song for multiple programs of Spanish repertoire and has been presented in a Schwabacher Debut Recital in San Francisco and offered an additional recital program at the El Camino College Center for the Arts.

He is an alumnus of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in association with San Francisco Opera, at which he sang Junius in The Rape of Lucretia and covered Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro. He is also a former member of Opera Santa Barbara’s Studio Artist Program. In 2013, he was a Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and sang arias from Rodelinda and The Marriage of Figaro on the famed company’s stage with Marco Armilianto conducting. He was also a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Eleanor McCollum Competition and the Loren L. Zachary Society for the Performing Arts National Vocal Competition. He holds a Master of Music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, at which he sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and while at Chapman University, his performances included Beethoven’s Mass in C and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.

Learn more at EfrainSolis.com.

César Cancino enjoys a musically diverse career as pianist, musical director, and conductor. He graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and then studied piano with Alain Naude, a pupil of the great Dinu Lipatti. For five years, he toured with singer/songwriter Joan Baez as her musical director and pianist. Later he spent five more years as the musical director/pianist for Teatro Zinzanni (a European style circus-cabaret in San Francisco). He is also a recipient of the Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle award for Outstanding Musical Director.

Mr. Cancino has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Australia in such venues as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Carnegie Hall, International Music Festival of Mexico City, Atlanta Summer Pops Symphony, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He has appeared with such diverse artists as singers Rita Moreno, Liliane Montevecchi, Thelma Houston, Maria Muldaur, Mercedes Sosa; cellist Ron Leonard; and violinists Pierre d’Archambeau, Martha Caplin and Tracy Silverman. Local credits include Berkeley Rep, Silicon Valley Symphony, Cinnabar Theater, Broadway By The Bay, 42nd Street Moon, Theatreworks, Beach Blanket Babylon, Monterey County Symphony, and Musical Director/Conductor of Morrison Theatre Chorus. He was for six years the musical director for Palazzo, a German company that produces a variety of circus-cabaret shows in Europe.

Learn more at CancinoMusic.com.

Pianist and coach Bryndon Hassman has played for more than 30 productions at LA Opera since 2000, both behind the scenes on the music staff as well as in the orchestra pit, and he can heard on the company's Grammy Award-winning recordings of The Ghosts of Versailles and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. He has been on the music staff of San Francisco Opera for 31 seasons. He has performed in recital with Rolando Villazón and he coached Robin Williams for his "opera singing" in Mrs. Doubtfire. 

Jose Chuy Hernandez is a tenor and guitarist with a background in classical, mariachi, rondalla and trio. At the age of eight, he became a member of the Xochiquetzal Boys Choir, headed by Father Salvador Barba Adame in Guadalajara, Mexico. For five years, he was educated in and performed classical pieces by Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Beethoven and many others in operas and other dramatic performances.

Since 2009, Jose has been studying and performing mariachi music with Mariachi Azteca, Mariachi Tapatio, Mariachi Jaliscience and others. 

In 2015, he revisited his classical roots by training in the genre of opera once again. He studied at the Carl Franzen Opera Studio in San Jose, California, with a focus on opera, bel canto and theater. He is a current student at the David Gustafson Opera Studio. In 2017, he was a part of an intensive opera workshop in Queretaro, Mexico, where he participated in individual and master classes with internationally renowned voice professor Carlos Aransay, from the Royal Opera House in London. 

He has been a music instructor at the School of Arts and Culture (Mexican Heritage Plaza, on the east side of San Jose) since 2014. Has been a part of a network of teaching artists serving at-risk youth, mainly within the Mayfair neighborhood.  

He currently directs a community choir program for children and adults, “Coro Folklorico CANTA,” serving East San Jose, Salinas and Hollister, with close to 100 students. 

Since September 2017, he has taught at Salinas Valley State Prison (CDCR) under ACTA (Alliance for the California Traditional Arts), leading classes in mariachi and vocals class to inmates.

He dedicated the year 2019 to theater. He was honored to be a part of Teatro Vision’s production of Macario. He functioned as vocal director, in charge of training and directing the whole cast, and he also took on the roles of El Diablo, El Panadero and El Inquisidor. 

In December of the same year, he participated in a community production of a traditional Christmas play in the city of Salinas, California, as vocal director, an actor in the cast and a pit orchestra musician. 

Jose is a graduate of the Multi-Cultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) class 9. To further his education into music and theater, he began a new journey as a student at Gavilan College in Gilroy, California, in 2020.

He continues to develop his craft, with the constant goal of becoming a better performer and, ultimately, a better instructor to his students.