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Episode 8: Tim Welcomes internationally acclaimed tenor, Russell Thomas. https://www.russellthomastenor.com/
Tim drinks a Chimay and Russell a fancy lemonade.
Tim and Russell reminisce about their first meeting at The Aspen Music Festival, and how that summer was pivotal for Russell on his artistic path. Russell tells how he fell in love with Opera by flipping through radio stations.
They discuss Russell’s approach to technique, the importance of being able to ask questions during the learning process, and just how far he’s willing to go to work with the right teacher. They chat about what Russell thinks about while singing an aria and his complex internal balancing act. Russell also shares about his ‘big break’ and the long process of putting himself out there. Russell speaks about his time at the Metropolitan Opera and the disparity in how he was treated there. He speaks to the impact that James Levine, John Fisher, and Ken Noda had on his artistic development.
Russell talks about growing up in a primarily Cuban neighborhood in Miami, coming to understand his racial identity until he entered the classical music community and moved away/lived on his own, and repeatedly being pulled over by the police for driving in his own neighborhood. Russell shares a response to an early audition, and how this comment fueled Russell’s drive to succeed. They discuss whether things are changing for BIPOC people and the general futility of hosting panels as a supposed action, the importance of white people joining the conversation about race today, and how white outrage is not enough.
Russell talks about his new position at Los Angeles Opera as Artist in Residence. He reveals how he got the job and his vision for his work there. They talk about Russell’s hopes for someday running an opera company, how racial disparity in the operatic world affects the makeup of general directors at companies across the country, and how this appointment at impacts his trajectory. More information on the program Russell is developing as part his tenure there, the HBCU Opera Career Comprehensive, can be found on the Los Angeles Opera Website here: https://www.laopera.org/about-us/hbcu-opera-career-comprehensive/
Tim shares more about the history and etymology of the Mvskoke and Seminole peoples in this episode during the land acknowledgement at the opening of the show. At the beginning of every episode, Tim and Russell perform a land acknowledgement, and Russell comments on how his ancestors were not brought to this land willingly as part of his acknowledgement. If you want to know more about land acknowledgments, and the original tenants and cultures of your current location, Tim suggests using the Native Land App https://apps.apple.com/us/app/native-land/id1194356597 or at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.nativeland.NativeLand&hl=en&gl=US
We heard a clip of Russell singing Roberto Devereux with San Francisco Opera info on that production can be found here: https://sfopera.com/devereux
Russell talked about Vanished, a project with Ryan McKinney and Dallas Opera. Here is the info on that:
Vanished – The Dallas Opera (NOW)Ryan McKinney has taken the last year to transform himself into a fully-fledged filmmaker and his latest work, “Vanished” might be his most impressive yet. The work, starring Russell Thomas and John Holiday, explores music by Gluck, Monteverdi, and Janáček assembled into a new narrative. https://www.thedallasopera.tv/products/vanished
The story Tim mentioned for CBS Sunday morning is a story on interracial marriage for the anniversary of the Supreme Court Case Loving vs. Virginia, which did away with racial barriers in marriage. The link to that story is here: https://www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/
You can find Tim’s Website here: timothylongmusic.com
Special Thanks to Martha Redbone for her permission to use her song “Medicine Man” for the opening credits.
More of her work can be found here and you can subscribe to her Youtube channel here.
More information on Foundry Arts, the producer of Unequal Temperament, is available at www.thefoundryarts.com
Foundry Arts is a lab for opera using collaboration and partnership to invest in artist development, dialogue, and expression, to sustain a rich, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable cultural landscape.
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