By George Basler
Tri-Cities Opera is tackling an important and controversial issue when it presents the modern opera I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams this weekend (Oct. 13 and 15) at the opera center 315 Clinton St., Binghamton.
Created by Cerise Lim Jacobs and composed by Jorge Sosa, the opera puts the spotlight on the problems faced by immigrant communities in the United States at a time when almost everyone agrees that our immigration system is an exercise in dysfunction.
TCO scheduled the production because “for us, opera is not something that happened 200 or 400 years ago. It is something happening today,” said John Rozzoni, the company’s general manager. “It’s important for us to tell relevant stories and expand people’s perception of opera.”
I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams explores the complicated relationship between Rosa, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico facing deportation, and Singa, her court-appointed attorney, who is a Chinese immigrant from Indonesia living in the U.S. on a green card.
The issue of undocumented migrants on the U.S. southern border is a topical one. But the opera’s roots lay in the inflammatory anti-immigrant rhetoric of the 2016 presidential campaign, Sosa said in an interview with Pittsburgh-based journalist Bill O’Driscoll.
Rozzoni said he discovered the opera at the New Works Forum for Opera America and “loved it.” It premiered in Boston in 2019 and had a production in Pittsburgh in 2022. The TCO production — which will be repeated Oct. 20 and 22 by TCO’s sister company, Syracuse Opera — is the third time it’s been staged.
The TCO performances are being directed by Stefanos Koroneos, who has enjoyed a long career as a baritone and director and was named artistic and general director of Teatro Grattacielo in New York City in 2019. Koroneos knows about the immigrant experience first-hand having emigrated twice, first from his native Greece to Italy and then from Italy to the U.S.
“When you talk about human stories, you go beyond politics,” he said. And I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams tells a compelling story.
Rozzoni said the opera focuses on the humanity of immigrants, not on politics. “We want to present stories of people who come to this country, so we can start conversations around issues rather than standing on one side or the other,” he said.
Featured in the five-person cast: Laura Forero Torres, a master’s student at Binghamton University; Kelsey Watts, a BU alumna; Kyrie Laybourn, a TCO resident artist, and guest artists Heejung Lee and Carla Lopez-Speziale. Marcello Cormio will conduct a seven-piece ensemble that is heavy on percussion.
Lopez-Speziale, a native of Mexico, is playing Rosa. The mezzo-soprano has sung in productions across the world and has been the recipient of top prize awards in the Vincenzo Bellini Competition in Italy, the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in the New York and the Carlo Morelli Competition in Mexico City. She sang the role of Rosa in its world premiere in Boston and describes the part as challenging because of its vocal and emotional demands.
“I think it (the opera) will help people understand the immigration issue from different perspectives,” she said.
Lee, a soprano, is playing the attorney Singa. A native of Korea, she said she can connect with the difficulties faced by some immigrants as they live in two cultures: the American culture and the culture of their native countries.
Lee won the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition in 2014 and made her Carnegie Hall debut in New York City. She has been a finalist in several international competitions such as the Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition, the Mario Lanza and Elaine Malbin Vocal Competition, and the New York Lyric Opera Theater International Competition.
I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams is an example of “incredible new operas being written and performed each year,” Koroneos said. His TCO production will use shadows, lights, body language, silences and his love for Greek tragedies to symbolize the impact of immigration on individuals and their internal battles, aspirations and fears.
The music in the opera is tuneful, lyrical and haunting and contains elements of Mexican folk, Rozzoni said. He thinks the music will remain in people’s heads after they hear it.
“I hope (the opera) sparks a conversation. I hope it opens people’s minds to what is possible when led by compassion and grace,” he emphasized.
IF YOU GO: I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 13 and 15) at Tri-Cities Opera, 315 Clinton St., Binghamton. Premium tickets at $55 and regular tickets at $40 are available on TCO’s website. www.tricitiesopera.com, and by calling the box office at 607-772-0400.
