Are you looking for a special way to celebrate Earth Day? “Music For New Bodies,” a brand-new work from Matthew Aucoin and Peter Sellars, focuses on tough questions about environmental responsibility and scientific progress. Meryl Dominguez, Houston Grand Opera Studio Artist, will bring the work to life alongside four other soloists and an 18-instrument ensemble, during a one-night only performance on Saturday night.
What drew you to love opera?
“I had a boyfriend in high school, who was obsessed with opera. The show [I saw] in 2006 was ‘The Barber of Seville,’ and there’s a moment where [the singer] comes out on the balcony in silhouette and she sings this beautiful trill. I was enraptured by it.”
What can we expect to see at ‘Music for New Bodies?’
“It’s really well-built to take you on this journey of something that is so familiar to us. Everybody has a family member who has gotten really ill and had to go into surgery. You experience the anxiety and fear from the outside and you hear what they’re experiencing. We [also] all have these climate anxieties. To marry the two of those together, I think, was utterly genius.”
What is a moment from the show that stands out?
“There’s a very climatic moment in the middle, where one voice really takes over. It’s dark. It’s kind of vicious. I usually think of Mother Earth as a comforting, warm, maternal figure. But, ultimately, nature doesn’t care about you. Nature is vicious and dark. It totally embodies that. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it.”
