For this exciting session of the “Opera for Educators” seminars, I will familiarize participants with the eclectic and deeply dramatic musical style of Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. The many influences in Golijov’s style, drawn from his many cultural and ethnic identities—Latin American, Jewish traditional, Middle Eastern, and European Western classical—contribute to his distinctive and accessible compositional voice. Since Ainadamar is Golijov’s first opera, I will focus instead on one of his earlier major works that mixes dramatic story, theatrical spectacle (including dance), and music: La Pasión según San Marcos (“St. Mark’s Passion”), a Latin American setting of the Passion.

The “Opera for Educators” program—an initiative of LA Opera Connects—offers half-day seminars on Zoom, each of which explores one of the main-stage works of the current season. An array of scholars, educators, and artists come together to enrich participants’ appreciation and understanding of historic and contemporary opera.