MUSIC | FriDAY–SUNDAY, January 31–February 2 | $20 ($10 for Students)
Gonzo Opera is Bringing #trialbytext to FUSION | The Cell from January 31–February 2! Come experience genuine opera but with outlandish characters and stories one would never expect to find in traditional opera!
#trialbytext is a wild and crazy courtroom comedy.
PERFORMANCE TIMES
Friday, January 31, 7 PM
Saturday, February 1, 2 PM
Sunday, February 2, 2 PM
TICKET COST
$20 General Admission
$10 Student
ABOUT GONZO OPERA
GONZO: It's not your Grandma's opera! Gonzo Opera is modern, tuneful, bawdily hilarious and REAL OPERA. Our mission is to breathe new life into an art form dangerously close to becoming a museum piece—using humor, modern themes, and wonderful singers with beautiful melodies.
#TRIALBYTEXT—BIOS
THOMAS MUNRO (The Judge). Thomas Munro’s “magnificent” dramatic baritone voice is coming to stages for the first time since he moved away from lyric roles toward heavier repertoire. Roles have included Tonio in Pagliacci, Figaro and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. He has been seen with the University of New Mexico Opera Theatre, the Lowell House Opera Company (Cambridge, MA) and Vertical Player Repertory (Brooklyn). Lieder performances have included the alto/baritone songs of Das Lied von der Erde and an experimental performance of Winterreise from the piano!
HANNAH STEPHENS (The Plaintiff). Lyric coloratura soprano, Hannah Stephens, resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and performs worldwide.
Miss Stephens recently performed a stunning Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra. After her debut of Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina, with West Edge Opera, critic, Victor Cordell, for AllEvents wrote, “
Hannah Stephens soprano is light and bright as Poppea. The opera is replete with challenging coloratura and staccato passages for which her voice is particularly effective.”
Another recent success was her touching and heartfelt performance of Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, with the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra.
Some past highlights of her operatic career include the Queen of the Night, Musetta, and Gilda. Miss Stephens enjoys the challenge of contemporary music, and is working with several composers on new works. She has sung with West Bay Opera, Pocket Opera, and Spreckels Performing Arts Center. Hannah’s successes in concert include Strauss’ Vier Letze Lieder, Schoenbergs String Quartet No. 2 and Villas-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras.
Other highlights of her operatic career were the role of Nella (Gianni Schicchi) with the Jacobs School of Music at IndianaUniversity, and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), which she performed in Weimar, Germany.Miss Stephens was selected by the opera department of the Jacobs School to sing both Königen der Nacht arias from Mozarts Die Zauberflöte, for public concert. She performed the US premiere of Lorenzo Palomos Mi jardín solitario.
Born in the United Kingdom, Miss Stephens is a dual citizen and received her Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Indiana University, studying with Carlos Montané, and her Bachelor’s from the University of New Mexico, studying with Marilyn Tyler.
THOMAS GRIEGO (Plaintiff’s attorney). Thomas Griego has performed on stage from an early age participating in dozens of Community and Children’s Theater productions in the Los Angeles, California area through his college years. After graduating from California Lutheran University in 1976, Mr. Griego left the stage to study Law at the University of New Mexico and begin a successful legal career, returning to the stage in 2014 for the Opera Southwest production of La Boheme, performing in the chorus every season since then in Verdi’s Aida, Rossini’s Tancredi, Rossini, William Tell, Puccini’s Tosca, Bottesini’s Ali Baba, Catan’s Il Postino, Verdi’s La Traviata, Rossini’s Le Comte Ory, Puccini’s Turandot and most recently in the 2024 season’s production of Bizet’s Carmen performed in Spanish. Mr. Griego has performed as “A Sacristan” in Tosca and was cast in the role of “Chavez” in Opera Southwest production of Armienta’s Bless Me, Ultima and as “Don Fernando” in Armienta’s “Zorro”. He has been active in liturgical music ministry for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and at the Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Albuquerque.
ESTHER MOSES (The Defendant). Esther Moses, Mezzo/Soprano, returned to her home state of New Mexico after working in the Pacific Northwest, where she was part of the statewide outreach, chorus roster, and concert soloist with the Portland Opera for more than a decade. She has performed new works as part of Gonzo Opera, including “And the Winner Is…”, “Down on the Pharma” and “Cellular World.” Esther has performed with Albuquerque and Santa Fe organizations such as Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico and the NM Performing Arts Society. She has worked with Opera Southwest as a soloist and with the Oregon East Symphony in Mahler’s 4th Symphony and Mozart’s Requiem. She has been featured with the Rose City Chamber Orchestra, Kids’ Concert and Yuletide Pops with the Oregon Symphony, and Bach’s St. John Passion with Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland. Other performances include Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Operatic roles include the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, Arsena in Gypsy Baron, Fatima in Abu Hassan, Laetitia in Menotti’s Old Maid and the Thief, and Tullia in the American premiere of Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa at the Cincinnati Conservatory. She has been a featured soloist with the Albuquerque Philharmonic and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra as well as soloist in the staged oratorio, Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans, at the Opera Theatre of Lucca, Italy. As a Regents Scholar, Esther holds performance & music education degrees from the University of New Mexico and received her Master of Music from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati. Esther enjoys raising her children, gardening, and beekeeping. She is a music and theater educator in the local schools.
Santiago Alfonzo Meza (The Defense Attorney).
Megan Snow (clarinet). Megan Snow is a musician and dancer in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe Metro area. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Montana, and a Master of Music degree from the University of New Mexico. She is also a student of Javanese gamelan and dance, and attended the Ekalaya Institute in Surakarta City, Indonesia, to study music and dance. Snow has played with several ensembles in New Mexico, including Gamelan Encantada, Sandia Wind Quintet, Opera Southwest, Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, and the San Juan Symphony. She has also danced with Gamelan Encantada, New Mexico Ballet Company, and Garden City Ballet Company. Owner of Snow Music Studio, she has taught private music lessons for 10 years. Snow can be contacted for gigs and for private lessons at megansnow43@gmail.com. Recordings can be found at www.youtube.com/@megansnow43.
SCOTT JACOBSEN (keyboard) is a freelance musician based in Albuquerque. He performs on both the piano and the saxophone in a wide variety of genres. In addition to working frequently as a collaborative pianist with instrumentalists and vocalists, Scott is a founding member of Basilaris, whose original jazz fusion music can be heard somewhere in town almost every weekend of the year. He has benefited from the mentorship of such local luminaries of jazz as Bobby Shew, Doug Lawrence, and Glenn Kostur. If he isn't at a gig or a rehearsal, he is probably at home playing Chopin or Liszt.
JANICE LEBER (librettist). Janice Leber has been writing with words since she was a young child. She and Daniel Steven Crafts have collaborated on a half dozen operas. As an avid computer junkie and early adopter of new gizmos, most of her librettos have centered on themes of modern technology and its impact on the lives and psyches of mere humans. She is deeply grateful to see these works performed by such talented musicians.
DANIEL STEVEN CRAFTS (composer) Daniel Steven Crafts wrote for the great tenor, Jerry Hadley, until his tragic death. Their first collaboration, The Song & the Slogan was released as a program for the PBS network and won an Emmy for Best Music. To date, Mr. Crafts has completed 22 operas, 18 symphonies, 6 concertos, and 17 large orchestral works, as well as a variety of shorter pieces. Having spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Crafts moved to New Mexico in 1999.