Opera season is now in full swing, and for Native American youths and families in the area, the Pueblo Opera Program has allowed them to see four dress rehearsals completely free this year—but there's just one left on the schedule. Strauss' Ariadne Auf Naxos takes the stage on Sunday July 24, and there are just 30 tickets left for families and young people ages 6 to 22.
An offshoot of the Santa Fe Opera's Youth Nights series, the Pueblo Opera Program has provided free and discounted access for rural Pueblo residents since 1973, but a new collaboration between Caren Gala, director of the Santa Fe Indian Center, and Santa Fe Opera Community Engagement Liaison Kyle Gray now welcomes young residents from anywhere in New Mexico to attend. "In terms of education for the kids," Gray says, adding the youths from as far away as Roswell have been in attendance, "I think the points of intersection and entry to the opera are limitless."
Gala, meanwhile, grew up in Nambé Pueblo and took advantage of the Pueblo Opera Program herself. She tells SFR she understands the impact such productions can have on young people. "It broadens one's perspective of the type of music that's out there," she says. "By attending an opera, it might spark the interest [to work there]."
The show itself is an opera within an opera, and takes place in 18th-century Vienna, where a rich guy fights with his servants about putting on a party. The opera is entirely tongue-in-cheek, with actors playing actors who flirt with each other to get what they want, and promises to be a good one for all you Greek myth geeks.
To secure tickets, call Caren Gala at 660-4210 or email SFIndianCenter@gmail.com.
For general questions about the Santa Fe Opera youth programs, contact Kyle Gray at 946-2401.
Pueblo Opera Program: Ariadne Auf Naxos: 8:30 pm Saturday July 24. Free to Native youth and their families. Santa Fe Opera, 301 Opera Drive, 986-5900.
