Minnesota Opera

What a great turnout for the Music and Liberation Book Club! Thank you to everyone who's joined us so far this summer for thoughtful conversations exploring the history, politics, and liberatory legacies of Black music.

A quick update: due to changes in book availability, we’ve updated the upcoming reading schedule. We’ll now be discussing "Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms" by Kira Thurman on August 16, followed by "Loving Music Till It Hurts" by William Cheng on September 20.

Join MN Opera and Black Garnet Books for the next conversation. 📚 Learn more at mnopera.org/impact/music-and-liberation-book-club/

🎉 GIVEAWAY! 🎉

We're giving away two VIP passes to St. Croix Valley Opera's Opera on the River tomorrow, Saturday, July 25.

To enter:
- Like this post
- Comment below and tag the person you'd bring!

Enter by 5pm today (July 24). We'll randomly select one winner and contact them via DM. Good luck!

Learn more about the event at www.scvopera.org/summer-series/ootr

Meet the librettist of "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr," Minita Gandhi.

A critically acclaimed playwright and multi-hyphenate artist based in Los Angeles, born in Mumbai, India, Minita's written work often engages with magical realism and dark comedy to explore multi-genre and multi-generational stories as a medium for healing.

Notable works include "Muthaland," which garnered Jeff Recommendations for Best New Work and Solo Performance, was an official selection of the Ignition Festival, NNPN Women in Playwriting Festival, and Anne Frank Social Justice Festival, and toured nationally. They are a 2022 New York Stage and Film Pfaelzer Award finalist and are currently developing new work, including "Nerve," with support from Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Lucille Lortel Theatre, and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. They are the founder of IGNITE and co-founder of Pathways, national mentorship initiatives for BIPOC and gender-diverse artists, and the former National Program Director for Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) and StateraArts.

Minita Gandhi is the librettist of "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr," commissioned and developed through MN Opera's New Works Initiative, premiering this fall, October 31.

Learn more about the production at mnopera.org/laila-starr

Showtunes with Sara returns! 🎶

Our quarterly in-person musical theater masterclass will be back Saturday, July 25 from 11am-1pm at the Minnesota Opera Center.

Singers will receive coaching and feedback on their musical theater performances from Youth Programs Music Director Sara Sawyer and Teaching Artist Emily Urban, along with peer feedback from participating singers. The two-hour workshop highlights a variety of musical styles, ages, experience levels, and cultural backgrounds. Plus, it’s free to attend and open to all ages! ✨

Learn more and sign up today at mnopera.org/showtunes-with-sara/

Summer check-in with the 2026-2027 Resident Artists! ☀️

Meet soprano Emily Finke and check out what they've been up to this summer:

"I am having a wonderful summer as an Apprentice Artist at DMMO! In addition to being in the chorus for Tosca and Szymanowski's King Roger, I reprised my role as Lucy in the children's opera: The Billy Goats Gruff which I toured as part of the OPERA Iowa Troupe earlier this year. It has been so much fun to perform such a wide range of works over the span of just a few weeks!"

Don't miss Emily singing the roles of Mun Mun/Gilly in "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr," Dalinda in "Ariodante," and Nannetta in "Falstaff" during the 2026-2027 season! Learn more at mnopera.org/season

Meet the composer of "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr," Kamala Sankaram.

Praised as “one of the most exciting opera composers in the country” (The Washington Post), she moves freely between the worlds of contemporary opera, experimental music and sound art.

As a biracial Indian-American and trained sitarist, she has drawn on Indian classical music in many of her works, including "Thumbprint," "A Rose," "Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers," and "The Jungle Book." Known for pushing the boundaries of form and style, she has created work for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (as 2023 artist-in-residence), an opera for the trees of Prospect Park (winner of the 2021 Creative Time Open Call), an augmented reality music walk for Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, a techno-noir featuring live datamining of the audience, and the world’s first virtual reality opera, among other pieces.

Her operas have been commissioned by Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and PROTOTYPE Festival, among others.

Kamala Sankaram is the composer of "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr," commissioned and developed through MN Opera’s New Works Initiative, premiering this fall, October 31.

Learn more about the production at mnopera.org/season

Audience reactions from the first listen of "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr" at the orchestral workshop this past May.

Commissioned and developed through MN Opera’s New Works Initiative and adapted from the acclaimed graphic novel by Ram V and Filipe Andrade, "The Many Deaths of Laila Starr" premieres October 31, opening the 2026-2027 season.

Learn more about the production and upcoming season at mnopera.org/season

📸 Photos by Drew Arrieta

Join MN Opera and Black Garnet Books for the Music and Liberation Book Club!

Together, we'll explore the history, politics, and liberatory legacies of Black music. Challenging the sonic color line that often defines genre, this event explores the power of music to either reproduce or destabilize violent categories of race, gender, ability, sexuality, and class.

Details:
Led by Civic Engagement and Audience Development Manager Dr. Allison Lewis
🗓️ Third Sundays of the month, June through September
📍 Black Garnet Bookstore
📚 Swipe to see this summer's book lineup!

Learn more at mnopera.org/impact/music-and-liberation-book-club/

A heartfelt thank you to our 2025-2026 Resident Artists: Fumiyasu Kawase, Kylie Kreucher, John Mburu, Kara Morgan, Ángel Vargas, and David Wolfe.

Throughout the year, these artists shared their talent, dedication, and artistry with our audiences and community. We are grateful for their contributions to MN Opera and proud of all they have accomplished.

Please join us in congratulating this remarkable group on a successful season! We look forward to seeing what comes next for this talented group, and are delighted to welcome back John Mburu and Ángel Vargas next season.