Ep 170-Peter Szep and Walker Lewis of the Indie Opera Podcast

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Conductor, producer and podcaster, Peter Szep is founder of the Indie Opera Podcast, the New York Opera Alliance and the New York Opera Fest.

Walker Lewis, stage director, has been acclaimed by the New York Times for his “imaginative staging”. Recent work includes the Apprentice Scenes at Santa Fe Opera; The Companion (American Opera Projects); Glory Denied (Opera Idaho); The Pirates of Penzance and The Threepenny Opera (Amarillo Opera); and The Whole Truth & The Cask of Amontillado (American Modern Ensemble with Mark Campbell and Stewart Copeland of The Police). Upcoming: A Streetcar Named Desire at Opera Idaho.

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Peter Szep and Walker Lewis from the Indie Opera Podcast discuss what it takes to produce opera today, the common mistakes composers make, and how you can bring your opera to life today

Topics discussed in this episode:

Indie Opera Podcast
M Lamar (Ep 33 of IOP)
Robert Paterson (Ep 37 of IOP and Ep 2 of CoF & Ep 108 of TPC)
Specify your goals
Casting the opera
Opera is not a solo art form—it is communal
Be flexible
Dramaturgy (Cori Ellison)
Stage director
Costuming/set design/lighting design
Producer
Making money in opera
American Lyric Theater
Opera America
Fort Worth Frontiers Program
American Opera Projects
Academic opera vs American opera theater
Prototype Festival
Beth Morrison Projects
Here.org
Don’t work with poets
Opera is theater
Avoid the use of a narrator
The orchestra is a character
Don’t let the music get in the way of the drama

Website:

Recommended Listening:

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Garrett2017-11-29T20:50:44-06:00

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Timothy Tharaldson

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Tina Davidson

This podcast is an excellent resource for composers at all stages of their careers. It is composers talking shop to other composers, addressing the issues that matter to our careers. It is so well thought out and executed—a total class act. Bravo to Garrett Hope for creating this much needed and well curated hub of knowledge for our community.

reeesm

Hey Garrett, again, this is so generous—to offer contemporary composers, conductors, and innovative thinkers in the new music field, the opportunities to talk about music. Really enjoyed doing a segment with you and the exchange of thoughts in talking with you about my reflections about being a composer and the paths taken toward releasing this orchestral CD, Dream Vapors. Thanks!

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By taking the time from his own life as a composer to offer the rest of us a window on how our peers work, Garrett is a truly wonderful musical citizen! Through the preparation he does for each interview, and the intelligence of the resulting conversations, Garrett has created a tremendous archive that will encourage and inspire countless music-makers. Thank you for this series, Garrett!

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I don't even know where to start describing how incredible and important this podcast is. As a podcast aficionado who already has a long playlist of my tried and true favorites, I didn't anticipate this one completely knowing the others out of the water. In terms of helpfulness, this podcast is a must for composers today. Here are a few reasons I love the show: *The consistent format serves to highlight the content, trends, and differences between each guest. *The host, Garrett Hope, has ample experience as both a working composer and as someone who has spoken with hundreds of composers about their own career experiences, so he really knows what questions to ask and which subjects to delve into. *Practical, specific recommendations. I leave almost every episode with at least one concrete thing I can tweak or try in my own practice, promotion, business, or approach otherwise. It's not just BS, generic, arrogant sound bites from people not wanting to discuss the nitty gritty; the guests are great about giving valuable, honest perspectives. *The guests span a pretty diverse range, and it's great to see how different kinds of people of different ages and experience levels, with different interests, abilities, and dictates carve out their own careers. It's not just a monolithic image of what a composer needs to be. There are also non-composer guests as well, which is helpful, because we composers obviously need to be aware of other colleagues (like performers)! *Each episode really flies by. The episodes range from 30–60 minutes, but it's always the most riveting, inspiring, thought-provoking hour of my day/drive. Thanks for this wonderful gift you're giving to the new music world!

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A must-listen podcast for composers, performers, or any independent artist.

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