In April of 2022, I had the honor of assisting Director Alberto Arvelo, Conductor Gustavo Dudamel and Associate Conductor Paolo Bortolameolli during the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Deaf West production of Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio.” In this brilliant reimagining of an over 200-year-old opera, there were two people for each role: a deaf actor who signed their part and an opera performer who sang it.
I carefully notated the staging for all of the artists involved, and transferred important cues into Dudamel’s score. I created over 30 graphs for the Deaf West actors to use which depicted the tempos, dynamics and emotions of the music.
Since I am fluent in Spanish, I was able to communicate with a majority of the creative team, including the White Hands Choir of Venezuela, in their native language. I learned some ASL, and even a bit of German from the original text!
It was an incredible opportunity to be part of this production of “Fidelio” – the first time an opera written by a deaf composer was performed by deaf actors!
