Living with an Opera

Click on the image above to read the interview

In 1993, my family moved across the country in the middle of my eighth grade year. We found ourselves in Jacksonville, NC after spending the majority of my childhood in Irvine, California. I missed my friends, my community and most of all, the great music program I was a part of at Venado Middle School.

At the helm of this music program was a man named Brendan McBrien who recently retired from teaching after 34 years as a music teacher in the Irvine Unified School District. We have kept in touch throughout the years and finally reconnected in person — almost 30 years after the big move.

Mr. McBrien and his son, Kevin made the trip to San Francisco a few months ago where we met for a lovely meal followed by a performance of the opera I had been rehearsing and working on for over two years. After our reunion, I sat down and chatted via Zoom with his son Kevin about my role in this very special world premiere. You can read this interview here.