sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Three captivating voices 鈥� Catalina Cuervo, Olga Perez Flora and Amy Owens 鈥� will perform live with the New Mexico Philharmonic as The Three Sopranos on Saturday, April 18, at Popejoy Hall.

The unique concert program is bookended by two Richard Strauss pieces 鈥� the tone poem 鈥淒on Juan鈥� and the final trio from his opera 鈥淒er Rosenkavalier鈥� 鈥� with additional works by Osvaldo Golijov, Georges Bizet, L茅o Delibes, Emmanuel Chabrier and Federico Moreno Torroba.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a program of duets, trios and solos from the romantic to the contemporary period 鈥� (including) very famous duets, like the duet from (Delibes鈥�) 鈥楲akm茅,鈥欌�� Cuervo said.

Some of the pieces, including the 鈥淒er Rosenkavalier鈥� trio, are notoriously difficult to sing.

鈥淪inging them one after the other is going to be a challenge, too, because normally in the operas you have those big moments and then you can rest for a couple of scenes,鈥� Cuervo said. 鈥淏ut this is going to be like, boom, boom, boom. No rest at all.鈥�

Cuervo, who was born in Colombia, comes from a musical family. Her great-aunt, Alba Del Castillo, was one of the most renowned coloratura sopranos Colombia has ever produced. But growing up, Cuervo was more interested in becoming a rock star.

鈥淚 was a kid in the 鈥�80s and a teenager in the 鈥�90s, so it was all about rock music, and I had a couple of bands 鈥� I was the lead guitarist 鈥� but it was not completely fulfilling. I knew, inside of me, that I loved singing, and that was my main thing,鈥� Cuervo said. 鈥淪o at that point 鈥� my early teenage years 鈥� I knew I was gonna sing. But opera didn鈥檛 come until after I was in school and realized I had the voice for it.鈥�

It was only after moving to the United States at the age of 18 and taking music classes at Miami Dade College that Cuervo considered a career in classical singing. She made her operatic debut as Frida Kahlo in 鈥淔rida鈥� with the Michigan Opera Theater in 2015 and went on to perform in operas around the world. She currently holds the record for performing the title role in Astor Piazzolla鈥檚 鈥淢ar铆a de Buenos Aires鈥� more times than any other singer.

The Three Sopranos was inspired, in part, by The Three Tenors, an operatic supergroup formed in the 1990s.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if anyone鈥檚 done a Three Sopranos thing before. But I think it鈥檚 a really good idea, because there鈥檚 some really beautiful music for three female vocalists,鈥� Owens said. 鈥淥f course, it鈥檚 not just soprano, meaning the high voice. We also have Olga (Perez Flora), who鈥檚 a mezzo-soprano, but that counts as a type of soprano. There鈥檚 so many types. And Catalina (Cuervo), who I鈥檝e not sung with 鈥� she and I are both sopranos, but I imagine that our voices are quite different. So, you鈥檙e getting a lot of texture and variety of tone.鈥�

Owens has performed in numerous operas, operettas and musicals, and she has sung Carl Orff鈥檚 鈥淐armina Burana鈥� at both the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. For Owens, communicating emotions through acting is at least as important as vocal technique.

鈥淎t the end of the day, technique is there to serve the emotional purpose. We only study technique to accomplish the emotional side better,鈥� Owens said.

One piece in The Three Sopranos concert, a suite from Golijov鈥檚 鈥淎inadamar,鈥� includes a passage meant to evoke sobbing.

鈥淚n 鈥楢inadamar,鈥� the role that I鈥檓 playing is Margarita, and there鈥檚 a part where there鈥檚 a notated sob. She鈥檚 crying, and she can鈥檛 get through the text, so she has to repeat it. 鈥� The composer does an amazing job of notating that, so, even if you鈥檙e just singing the notes and not bringing your own emotional component to it, (the emotion) is still going to come across,鈥� Owens said. 鈥淏ut as an empathetic person 鈥� and as an actress, I absolutely try and draw on my own reservoir of experience to tap into what it feels like to be in that situation.鈥�

鈥淎inadamar鈥� is an opera based on the life of the 20th century Spanish poet Federico Garc铆a Lorca, who was executed in 1936. The opera premiered at the Tanglewood in Massachusetts in 2003, and the Santa Fe Opera performed it in 2005.

Lorca is written as a breeches role for a mezzo-soprano, and in this case, it is sung by Perez Flora.

鈥淚鈥檓 a fan of Lorca. There are a lot of Spanish songs based on his poetry,鈥� Perez Flora said. 鈥淚 think he is an incredible example of an artist whose soul poured out into his words. And very easily, that translates into music.鈥�

Perez Flora said she first became interested in classical music through ballet.

鈥淚 was a ballerina in my youth in New Orleans, so I fell in love with classical music very much by accident when I was young,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hen, as I got older, I started joining choirs. 鈥� I was in the New Orleans Symphony Youth Chorale when I was in high school, and I won a competition. When I did, somebody said to me, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檇 love for you to come and study voice, and we can give you a scholarship.鈥� And I was like, 鈥極h, I didn鈥檛 know you could do that.鈥欌��

One of Perez Flora鈥檚 favorite roles to sing is Carmen, the title character of Bizet鈥檚 well-known opera. She has performed the role multiple times, including a Spanish-language version with Opera Southwest in 2024. The Three Sopranos concert will feature three selections from the opera.

As it happens, 鈥淐armen鈥� was Perez Flora鈥檚 first introduction to opera.

鈥淚n my senior year of high school, my French teacher made us sit down and watch 鈥楥armen鈥� (the 1984 film version, starring Pl谩cido Domingo and Julia Migenes). And she said, 鈥楶erhaps one day Madame Perez will sing 鈥淐armen.鈥濃�� That was the beginning of my love affair with opera,鈥� Perez Flora said.

Roberto Minczuk will conduct the NMPhil for most of the evening, but Owens will conduct Chabrier鈥檚 鈥淓spa帽a.鈥�

鈥淚t requires a lot of personal study with the score, because it鈥檚 not just waving your hands. You have to really understand the music,鈥� Owens said. 鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 the technical part, making sure that you can communicate to an orchestra what you want, because a lot of the music can happen without you. As a conductor, you have to be able to offer something different and help hold people together with how the music is supposed to go.鈥�

Owens said she鈥檚 been doing more conducting lately as a way to prepare for a future beyond singing.

鈥淚 want to engage with music my entire life, but perhaps in 20 years, I won鈥檛 want to be singing as much anymore,鈥� Owens said. 鈥淚鈥檒l want to be conducting.鈥�

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at .