Last season, under the extraordinary and thoughtful leadership of Nancy Rhodes, Encompass New Opera Theatre presented a program that originated during the pandemic. Unheard Voices: An Immigrant’s Dream is a program to help showcase stories of immigration and celebrate cultural diversity.
There was much press leading up to the concert premiere including podcast and newspaper interviews with Nancy. I was featured in the New Jersey Journal, El Diario, the country’s oldest Spanish periodical, morning television programs, as well as a segment on the nationally syndicated Spanish program Acceso Total on the Telemundo network. The aforementioned media helped in spreading the word about our concert. During the interviews, there was a deep dialogue on various issues as they pertain to social injustice and we expressed how we, as artists, are seeing what’s happening and that through this and other similar projects, express our sentiments and do our best to serve as a voice and bring forth music of meaningful substance and we hope, comfort.
This project was one of the last which Nancy Rhodes oversaw with her usual great care and commitment. As a tribute to her and to the ever-present need for a voice to speak on behalf of those who are “othered” and marginalized in our society, Encompass Opera and I, will continue to present variations of this project through live in-person and online performances in the upcoming season along with the video and audio recorded in the Peekskills and New York City, respectively.
The following is a link to the premiere performance of “Unheard Voice: An Immigrant’s Dream”, which took place at The Green Space in New York City: