A Thanksgiving Update From Aliana
By Timothy Gurzack Photography (March 2023)
Some big changes are on the horizon, and I’m happy to reach out today, on Thanksgiving, with updates and some reflections.
Last season we achieved some incredible milestones. Our commitments to diversity and equity saw us presenting all women composers and beginning a special collaboration with the Urban Jazz Dance Company, offering us an exchange of ideas and processes we wouldn’t encounter in other performance settings. We presented a libretto reading of The Windows, a new work-in-progress, and threw a hell of a party at our first fundraiser event, where we further shared a short musical sketch of The Windows. Within the organization, three new board members joined us, Lilit Hartunian, Susan Wilson, now our board treasurer, and Beth Wiemann, our new board president. We welcomed a new Community and Education Committee with new members, Cara Consilvio, Alexis Peart, and Emily Koh.
This season, we continued to grow with the help of our committee. We launched a national search and brought in librettist and lyricist Kendra Preston Leonard to lead our virtual libretto writing initiatives to a new and international cohort! We welcomed three interns to our team from the Longy School of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Guerilla Opera’s former home and my alma mater. Maggi Chauby and Angela Yam have both moved on from our staff and with our best wishes for full and prosperous career journeys. Maggi is now the chair of our Community and Education Committee, and we are on track to fill the positions of Marketing Coordinator and Community and Education Manager by December.
It was surreal to revisit Say It Ain’t So, Joe by Curtis K. Hughes this past October. We premiered that opera in 2009. I was only 26 years old and just three years out of school. I was still searching for my identity, and that’s what’s special about Guerilla Opera. It shows you who you are. I’m so thankful to have “grown up” in this company -developed my artistic voice and values.
This coming January, I will begin a year's sabbatical to achieve some important goals with a clear mind. I’m not disappearing - I’ll remain on the board and help with transitions. I’m grateful to have been central to Guerilla Opera for 18 years and excited about the new voices coming into the organization. I’m grateful for your trust in our vision, which I’m humbled to steward. I have no doubt that Guerilla Opera will continue to thrive, innovate, and inspire under fresh leadership, and I look forward to the incredible work that lies ahead.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones. Wishing you peace and love this holiday season.