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193 Plays4 years ago
Liz Kiger is our guest for a deep discussion of Art, Philosophy, film, photography, teaching, trauma and resiliency, LGBTQIA+Opera, and their new filmed opera - a gorgeous, modern presentation (shot in Red - Komodo - 6K) of ORFEO. ORFEO is a dazzling, energetic, sensitive story that will amaze you visually and sonically. Its release is simultaneous to this podcast episode. Find ORFEO here
Liz Kiger is a Turkish-American non-binary soprano vocalist, violinist, and opera director specializing in Baroque performance practice. They are the founder and director of the Brooklyn Telemann Chamber Society. They hold their MM in Classical Vocal Performance and a post graduate degree in Vocal Pedagogy from NYU. They have most recently performed as the title role in Monteverdi’s Poppea, Papagena (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte), Ottavia (Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea) at Scorca Hall (National Opera Center), & Susanna (Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro) at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Liz is a proud advocate for singers with incurable vocal pathologies like themself.
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Transcript
Introduction of the Podcast and Guest
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Ken Zalante. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
00:00:18
Speaker
This is Ken Vellante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast and got a fun, great guest coming on to the show right now, Liz Kiger.
Meet Liz Kiger: Musician and Storyteller
00:00:28
Speaker
Well, I just want to say welcome to the show, Liz. It's a wonderful treat to be able to talk to you. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I'm like so ecstatic to be on your podcast today.
00:00:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really excited to talk to you and to just introduce you to the listeners. I came in contact with Liz and the work she's doing with the Brooklyn Pelamon Chamber Society.
00:01:00
Speaker
and video productions of some classic opera content. But she's also a teacher, plays the violin, and will tell us many other things that she does. So Liz, we're reaching you from New York, from the great state of New York and Brooklyn.
00:01:27
Speaker
I usually start off the show with artists and say, hey, when you were born, were you an artist? Were you thinking and doing these things when you were a little kid?
00:01:42
Speaker
I don't know if I was an artist right out of the womb per se. I think that'd be a little narcissistic if I thought that. But when I was a little kid, I was obsessed with writing stories. So I was really particularly obsessed with Sailor Moon.
00:02:02
Speaker
And I would write these stories in these notebooks I have. And then I would act out all of the characters in these stories. And I wouldn't do it for anyone else. I would just kind of do it alone in my room. So that's kind of where I think all of the art creation began. And then I would sing constantly. My mom plays the piano.
00:02:32
Speaker
And I would sit next to her on the piano bench and I would turn the pages while she played. And so I think that's kind of where my art beginning began. But I don't know if I would be an artist in such broad terms.
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, I think a lot of times when you try to get into it, just seeing almost sometimes it seems with artists, those things that were supposed to happen, those things that would develop or would not develop.
Innovating Opera for Modern Times
00:03:06
Speaker
And I want to go to, I want to mention, as you may have noticed, in some episodes recently have explored
00:03:17
Speaker
opera and a form which for me as the host of the show
00:03:23
Speaker
I'm very curious and I get to kind of explore areas and talk intimately with artists to kind of learn more, particularly in areas that I don't know as much about. One of the wonderful ideas and things that you've been working on is a video, a high quality video production.
00:03:51
Speaker
of Orfeo. And two things, Liz. I want your grand introduction to Orfeo, but I also want you to
00:04:08
Speaker
Tell me about, what does this look like? You know, on film, opera on film, what are you trying to do? It seems so vital and fresh, but what's your project? What are you up to? So Brooklyn Telemann Chamber Society, our big mission as a company is to provide
00:04:33
Speaker
these kind of performance opportunities to emerging artists, in particular LGBTQIA artists. And one of the big things for emerging artists is content, promotional content. We always need promotional content. And I've been in so many shows over, God, the past like 20 years, I guess. I'm old.
00:04:59
Speaker
where I don't have a single photo that I was in the show. I don't have a single video. I have nothing. There's no proof that this event ever happened other than it being on my resume.
00:05:11
Speaker
I came up with the idea for our first movie, L'incora Nazione di Popella by Monteveri, which we released last May. So initially the thing about it was, I want my artists to have proof and content from these things that we've created because you spend all of this time making this huge production and show and then
00:05:35
Speaker
You have absolutely nothing to literally show for it afterwards. So that was kind of the catalyst. And then while we were kind of in the process of the first movie, we realized how important this new art form is for opera. I mean, when you tell people that you sing opera or that you do anything with opera, it's such like a
00:06:01
Speaker
boring, antiquated thing. When they think of opera, you think of that Hey Arnold episode, if you're a 90s kid like me, where they go to the opera and they all fall asleep.
00:06:20
Speaker
It's, everyone just thinks it's either this grand art form or it's this really boring, dumb thing. And the truth of the matter is classical music is everywhere in everything we do, in film scores. One of my favorite examples when I talk to my kids, my students' kids, not my literal kids.
00:06:41
Speaker
is there used to be this K9 Advantics commercial on TV and K9 Advantics was like a flea commercial. And the song in the K9 Advantics, hello mother, hello father, please do speedos, really bother. So I have not warmed up today to actually sing, but that song is like a big piece of classical music. And so,
00:07:06
Speaker
It's literally everywhere and everything that we do and it feeds the pop music that we listen to right now. So I think finding these new forms to bring this, to make it more relevant and to make it more accessible
00:07:22
Speaker
is so cool because even when my like, you know, 11 year old students like saw the trailer for Ofeo, for example, they were like, Whoa, what is this? You know, it's like when it's like Greek mythology where these stories pass down through generations and generations and generations. And we still think like, you know, we still think that the Oedipus thing is like,
00:07:45
Speaker
Crazy you know we still find these stories really really engaging and we still connect with them so much so so kind of moving forward from that like
00:08:01
Speaker
being able to put these into film versions where we have these beautiful cinematic backgrounds and we have the transitions and the quality that we're used to from seeing, you know, with Netflix and HBO and all that kind of stuff, but then taking this classical music and putting that into it, I think is gonna
00:08:27
Speaker
make people interested, make it fresh, make it new, make it alive again, because these stories are the same stories that we're telling. And they're just like so much in the human psyche and experience that we want to hear them again. And we want to hear the music too. It's like when kids do like choral classes, they get so
00:08:49
Speaker
into this chorus music and they love creating it, they love singing it, they love hearing it. But because it's not accessible, it just kind of fades into the background. So that's kind of in a nutshell what we're doing. Sorry, I'm not the most eloquent speaker in the world. Liz, Liz.
00:09:10
Speaker
You're perfect for the show. I really
Inclusivity in Opera
00:09:16
Speaker
love to hear about what you're intending with it. Hey, I was wondering too, with regards to the production, you mentioned specifically GLBTQ questioning as far as
00:09:35
Speaker
a focus or an inclusivity to the project. Tell me, I'm on the outside of the opera world. What does that mean for the opera world and for folks to see that and for that to be a value within the production? I think it's huge. So having any company with any sort of inclusivity focus right now is
00:10:04
Speaker
so important because
00:10:09
Speaker
all of these big companies, it's only within the last five, 10 years that these big companies like The Met, like Lascala are making changes and showcasing inclusivity. And I know part of that, and the sad thing is part of that is because it's now popular to be inclusive. And they should have been trying to be inclusive all along. I remember
00:10:38
Speaker
When I first moved to New York City in like 2015, I went to the first production of Othello where they did not use blackface at the Metropolitan Opera. 2015, it took them that long. So I think having companies that have this focus is so important. And as a member of the LGBTQIA community, I want
00:11:07
Speaker
to really bring that in and have 90% of our staff and our cast and crew be LGBTQIA, but also to have inclusivity just across the board. I think, especially because classical music is so, there's a certain level of privilege that allows you to be exposed to it both early on and later in life,
00:11:37
Speaker
and trying to like, you know, trying to lift each other up and lift people up as someone who like didn't come from privilege. I just, I think that's really important. It's a, it's a big part of my mission. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and thank you. Thank you for, for that. Yeah. And, and like I said, just, just, uh, I've known, I've been attracted to, I think at least right now looking at, um,
00:12:04
Speaker
different productions. I had Madison Marie McIntosh on recently and just a different type of productions and just learning from the performers themselves and you know what's going on with this you know a very traditional form in just seeing
00:12:23
Speaker
what it looks like now. And even you had mentioned, too, as far as I think what we would look at some of the assets or the video or the content that you end up creating. And I think in opera, it'd be so transitory if it isn't captured. So just wonderful that you're able to capture elements of it so that the creators can connect to that directly.
00:12:54
Speaker
Thanks, yeah. I mean, the capturing, it's both for the people creating it as well as, you know, for the audience and to help bring it to more people. I mean, if you've only got, there have been a lot of shows that I've been in where it's been like a one night only thing, which means that, you know, mom, dad can't come, friends can't come, you know? So I think
00:13:18
Speaker
Um, I just think that this is the future of opera, especially, but also like so many art forms since, you know, technology is such a huge part of our lives now. Yeah. Well, so, uh, so we don't lose it. Um, uh, for listeners, this, this show will be released right around the time that, uh, the video, uh, will be available. Why don't you just take this opportunity, Liz, let folks know what they do, um, to see the production.
00:13:50
Speaker
Yes, so the production will be on YouTube for a free online stream, May 10th. And then we will have a few premieres here in New York City as well, like physical premieres. We have one at 101 Wilson. And that screening also comes with a specialty cocktail designed for the show. So if you drink, that's a great opportunity for you to come. And then the second will be at Pete's Candy Store on June 30th.
00:14:20
Speaker
And they have like a separate backspace where they'll have like the screening. It's really quite beautiful. And that performance will also have a live performance aspect to it as well. We'll have a few of our singers perform live before the screening.
00:14:35
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that sounds wonderful. I don't know, June 30th in Brooklyn outside with the screen specialty drink. Sounds like a pretty appealing invitation. Thanks. So May 16th indoor at 101 Wilson and then June 30th at Pete's candy store. And then May 10th is the online street
00:15:01
Speaker
Awesome. Thanks so much. All right Liz you're a thinker you're a creator you're busy You make things I gotta know For you the artist What is art and why? Why do you why do you do it? Well, you put a lot of yourself into this thing. What what is it in? Why are you doing it?
00:15:28
Speaker
It's just such a giant question to ask someone with only like three words, what is art? It's kind of an overwhelming one. I guess, I don't know, I think it's the expression of our internal monologue.
00:15:54
Speaker
If that makes sense, if I'm going to put it as succinct as possible, I think it's the expression and the ability to have freedom of expression of our internal monologue. Yeah. I haven't thought about it in those terms. As a verbal processor in our monologue, that makes a
00:16:15
Speaker
That makes a ton of sense for me. And I think what I attach to is the sensitivity of showing that or expressing that, right? And I think that's the challenge and the leap for artists. Yeah, there's so much.
00:16:35
Speaker
vulnerability involved in like literally everything you create, whether it's like last weekend was Greek Orthodox Easter. So my partner and I made tsuraki, which is like the bread. So even like the vulnerability and like sharing this tsuraki recipe and like creating that with them versus, you know, creating a whole movie, you know, there's so much
00:16:59
Speaker
vulnerability and in sharing that expression of our monologue of who we are and our story and we do that every day in these little things like like baking with your partner or these huge things like this is my performance this is my magnum opus you know um
Art and Its Role in a Post-Pandemic World
00:17:17
Speaker
And even in things that we create like collaboratively. So I also, before I was able to do music, before I was able to afford to do music full-time, I used to travel internationally as a full-time model, and I'm analog photographer, and I still do quite a bit of that. And even when you're making something, you know, so collaborative, such as like photographic art,
00:17:46
Speaker
There's still a huge vulnerability aspect, not just between the creator and the subject, but also the piece itself as a whole to be presented. Thank you for sharing that, Liz. What do you think the
00:18:13
Speaker
the role of art is now, you know, the pendency of the podcast is mostly through, like started before the pandemic and during the pandemic. And I found kind of like just different vibes around like, what's art supposed to be doing? You know, is it helping us survive? Is it
00:18:38
Speaker
kind of just caught up into our economic system and becomes a thing. There's all sorts of divergent views, but what do you think the role of art is right now, or you could even say specifically the role of the particular art form of opera in 2022? Okay.
00:19:01
Speaker
Well, the first thing I thought of when you asked like, what is the role of art was like my brain immediately went to like the bastardization of art in regards to like the commercial sense and, you know, everything having to be sold and bought and used for, I mean, and there's good and evil in regards to like promotional purposes of art and that kind of a thing. But that's immediately what I thought of, which,
00:19:27
Speaker
I guess there's something about me as like a person. I guess I'm a really negative person. I go to the same spot, Liz. That's the first spot I go to as well. But yeah, the role, what's it supposed to be doing for us, even if it's caught up into some of those ads? What's it supposed to be doing? I think it really depends on the person and the situation.
00:19:55
Speaker
I know for a lot of people, it can be the only way that they can really connect with other people, the only way that they can, especially in the pandemic when,
00:20:14
Speaker
I know I was trapped in my apartment for four months alone at the start of the pandemic, unable to leave. So for me, having the papaya production in the back of my head, I was like, OK, this is a way that I can be a part of something other than trapped in my own head. This is how I can work with others and create with others. And this is something to kind of push me. Yeah.
00:20:44
Speaker
to be as a whole, not just the act of being, I guess is the way to put it. So I think for a lot of people, I feel like a lot of people feel that way. But then for other people, I don't think it is the catalyst for being. I think for a lot of people, art is,
00:21:12
Speaker
going to a bar and like hanging out and like listening to these great bands and like dancing and just having fun. And the art is like, it gives you like the permission to have fun and to like enjoy life and to like be present in life and enjoy it. And I don't, and I also think it's important that while I'm like making these like dichotomies, like one is not, you know, grander or more precious than the other, I think,
00:21:40
Speaker
you know, for people that artists, everything to them is like, that's great. And then for people who, you know, maybe they're like a scientist by day, but they just like love like hanging out at jalopies and like dancing, you know, it doesn't mean anything less. It's not greater in one of these dichotomies, you know? But I think it, I think it's just, it, it helps us. I think without it, we don't,
00:22:10
Speaker
give ourselves permission, you know, does that make sense? I feel like I sound kind of stupid. No, no, no, no, no, Liz, it makes and I really picked up on the part of the permission to have fun. I mean, sometimes there's a succinct way of just stating things like permission to enter into another world, permission to have fun, permission to breathe, permission to see that like life is better than it appears at times, you know, so I think there's a great
00:22:39
Speaker
part of that, because if the permission seems to be there when we experience art, then we're able to behave differently. And yeah, that's why. Yeah. So, um, I really enjoy that. I really vibe with what you're saying there. Um, Liz, uh, so you're a teacher. Um, I represent, uh, teachers by my,
00:23:03
Speaker
day job in the K-12 system. But I always find it a pretty interesting area to discuss as far as the kind of the like reflexive aspect of you teaching
Empowering Through Teaching Philosophy
00:23:17
Speaker
and teaching, whether it's a vocal or I believe with the violin, what you learn in the process in being able to teach and whether
00:23:29
Speaker
what you gain from the kind of the art that's within teaching, what you know. What I gain from the art that's within teaching. Yeah. Sorry, I think you can hear that New York ambulance siren that's going right now. So this is like this code like this is this is a street podcast at its at its at its base. So, you know, like
00:23:57
Speaker
Brooklyn with the overheads? Yeah, no problem. No, but the art of teaching or where you're able to learn, teach and what your specialty knowledge is. Wow. Okay. This is a huge question. Well, I guess on a more like base level, my
00:24:25
Speaker
like my specialty knowledge is Baroque music, okay, cool. And I teach violin and I teach voice as well. But I feel like a lot of what I teach isn't necessarily teaching the instrument. And I feel like anyone who took music lessons as a kid or took music classes in school feels the same way. I was just talking to some friends about it last evening,
00:24:56
Speaker
I feel like so much of what I teach is how to learn and how to, not how to think, because I'm not teaching them their thoughts, but how to problem solve, how to critically analyze, how to not give up, how to have work ethic in the face of adversity. And there are all different kinds of adversity, not just time management adversity, but also
00:25:26
Speaker
access to supplies, adversity, access to time, well access to time adversity obviously, but also like even like your like inner frustrations like combating those kind of adversities. I know for myself like that was a huge thing for me was like kind of overcoming my own perfectionism.
00:25:56
Speaker
And that being a huge part of my emotional adversity. So I definitely talk to my students, well, all my clients, because I also teach adults as well about these kinds of things. It's a lot of, I guess people call it mindfulness now, but
00:26:17
Speaker
learning how you work and then becoming patient with who you are as a person and learning to circumvent the things about yourself that aren't your favorite things about yourself. And then finding ways and paths and patterns to help teach yourself. Like one big thing I tell everyone that I work with is like the goal of these lessons
00:26:44
Speaker
is so that you don't have to have a teacher. Like I know so many teachers that kind of like withhold knowledge in a way and gate keep. And they do that because they want to keep their clients forever. And they want to have this stream of income forever. And you know, it's that smart in a way. But I think the goal for me with my clients is like,
00:27:08
Speaker
I want you to feel so good about the art that you're able to to create and the things that you're able to make. And I want you to be able to to read this music for yourself and analyze this music for yourself and analyze this text. And I want you to not need me anymore. Like I'll put the floaties on and I'll help you learn to swim. But eventually you're going to take them off and you're going to go into the ocean and become a mermaid. Yeah. Yeah. Organizing and empowering.
00:27:37
Speaker
and sharing. It's a really powerful model. And we're speaking with Liz Kiger and just speaking about opera, about video, about audio, about teaching. Liz, I had a particular question with you, of course, with opera being, you know,
00:28:06
Speaker
the sound of the human voice projecting the story with movement. I wanted to ask about just a little bit of the feel when you're trying to capture that bigness of the opera on video, where maybe a little bit more reliant upon the sound. What is it like to incorporate the
00:28:32
Speaker
video elements in sound and presenting this visually via film. Is it something different? Does it work pretty well for you in trying to do this? Yeah, I definitely think so, especially with our new show. There's this, so the image in my head when I
00:29:02
Speaker
came up with the concept for how we would, I guess, stage, isn't the right word, but it's the word I'm gonna use. Of how we would stage this production is, Orfeo is in this giant field, and it's kind of, my head kind of had this, a little bit of a sound of music-y thought to it, where
00:29:29
Speaker
you know, the scene where Julie Andrews is in the field and her arms are out and she's spinning and you see nothing, you know, this expanse of everything behind her in the mountains and her voice just soars and fills up that space. And I feel like that is what I wanted to create sound and visual wise is that same blossoming
00:29:59
Speaker
aspect. And I think that we are able to capture that. And I think we did an excellent job with it. Because so much of the film is outdoors, we had to overdub the audio for the outdoor segments. But what we did is half of the movie is indoor. So the hellscape component
00:30:23
Speaker
of the Orfeo myth is indoor and is recorded on location, the sound and the images are same time. So we took that and then our sound engineer configured the dubbing to have that same warmness of tone and a very similar resonance quality so that you could kind of get that expanse of sound. Wow.
00:30:54
Speaker
I could, there was a piece when you were describing just that backdrop of the sound, the music, kind of like that openness and filling up with sound. I'm really excited to see this and everybody you've heard will be available right around just about the same time this
00:31:14
Speaker
a lovely interview with Liz, um, as is made available to you. Um, so, uh, Liz, I have, um, have another, uh, couple bigger
Personal Experiences Shaping Art
00:31:27
Speaker
questions. Um, but one is, is a little bit more towards like, uh, who you are and how you create. And it's a general question. It's what, or who made you who you are.
00:31:43
Speaker
Um, so I think a big part of what made me who I am is
00:32:09
Speaker
my traumas. And I don't really want to get into details about that kind of stuff, but what I can say is I have like complex post-traumatic stress disorder. And so living with that has been a journey and a lot of what I create and what I think and what I feel and how I interact with the world around me
00:32:38
Speaker
has to do with that and has to do with those experiences and has to do with how I've grown to manage having that in these experiences. So yeah, I think that's a huge, huge aspect of who I am. And I used to be kind of ashamed of that and ashamed that
00:33:07
Speaker
You know, I guess a lot of people talk about like being, you know, victims of their illness or being like survivors of their illness. And I hate both of those words. I think that was terrible. But I know that because I've had these experiences, I relate to the world around me very differently than a lot of people who have not. And I know that
00:33:34
Speaker
The art I create has this very particular lens that's particular to me. Um, and so it is just a huge part of me and I'm learning not to feel shame about it. And I'm learning to just be like, this is just what it is. You know, I, yeah, I don't know. No, I, and, and, and thank you for sharing that I, I, when I, when I started the show.
00:34:05
Speaker
I don't know what I was thinking about, but I think in general it was about, you know, popular philosophy and talking about creating really cool things like songs that you lose your mind over, movies that you obsess about and watch 40 times or like any, you know, in creators and what they do to create these wild things that make our lives better. And so I quickly moved and saw
00:34:35
Speaker
that it wasn't just psychological, but connecting things of transformation, of creativity to move through things, of creativity to show comfort in how we choose to express ourselves. I just found a great, it wasn't a solution for everything at all, but I just found that when I was talking art the way I wanted to talk about art, I was talking about healing, overcoming,
00:35:05
Speaker
freedom and getting through. And I didn't expect that. I didn't expect that. But now I know it. And I really appreciate you sharing that. And I think it can be a difficulty for artists to say, these are the very difficult things that are here that are part of me.
00:35:30
Speaker
what I try to create is connected to that. So, not to explain it all away, but thank you. It's really where my show keeps going to, is about how we're doing, how we're expressing ourselves. And thank you. Yeah, I think you put that all so eloquently.
00:35:52
Speaker
And it's kind of hard stuff to talk about. I mean, so many artists have various illnesses and traumatic experiences and such. And it is really common for us to have these things in our lives. But like you said, it affects so much the way we relate to the world.
00:36:19
Speaker
and how some people want to express what they've gone through. Other people want to find healing for what they've gone through. I feel like neither of those particular things apply to me.
00:36:36
Speaker
But I do know that it's changed the way I see life. I have a friend who, the way that I kind of metaphorically think about it is I have a friend who is colorblind, but in this very specific way where her colorblindness, she sees, you know,
00:37:00
Speaker
everything in these pastel tones and she sees like brown hair as like lilac and green eyes as like orange and this is the way she sees and she is a photographer and the way that she edits and captures images are so soft and gentle and feminine and she just has such a unique
00:37:30
Speaker
perspective and take on the world. This photographer, by the way, is Sydney de Haven. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, as I share her praises, I should say her name. And I feel like she's able to create this unique, beautiful art because of literally the way she sees.
00:37:59
Speaker
And I feel like, yeah, I feel the same way about how our trauma and our experiences affect us. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Wow. And that must next next artist to, to look up. Thank you for doing that. That's one great thing about talking with artists is all the, all the following leads from it.
The Philosophy of Existence and Art
00:38:23
Speaker
Liz, I got the, I got the big question to, to ask you.
00:38:30
Speaker
And I think you're in a position to answer it. Why is there something rather than nothing? You say that question and I immediately think of
00:38:52
Speaker
SLC Punk, which is a movie I haven't seen since I was like 11 years old or something. So I think of those guys that I forget what it's called, who don't believe in anything in the world that they don't believe in. They don't believe in, you know, how anything affects anything. And you see their lives and you see
00:39:22
Speaker
how meaningless and upsetting it is. And so I think there has to be, I think there has to be something rather than nothing. Because why am I having this conversation with you? Like, why am I here? Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:52
Speaker
there's always like within this discussion I like about it is that there's within like the nothingness that there isn't the potential for a lack of meaning or nihilism, which is kind of like the counter to thinking about art is that there is something like that we are trying to create something, do something that there is something substantial to it. And I think we have like this
00:40:23
Speaker
Sticking belief and hope to that. I do I do Otherwise I think it doesn't make make as much sense. I what I like about this question list is like There's something about it in the pauses and the laughter there's something about philosophy sometimes like where you ask the questions and it's like I
00:40:44
Speaker
I'm just going to laugh because you move towards like, all right, how did you get to this point where this is the question you ask? Yeah, right? Like how many drinks did and really have conversations did it take to get here? I love that you say nihilism. That's the word I was thinking of. The character in SLC Punk is a nihilist and his character always frustrated me and I guess
00:41:15
Speaker
one of the reasons it did, and maybe this is way too vulnerable to express or whatever in a podcast, but one of the reasons his character bothered me is
00:41:31
Speaker
There is this line in this, I keep referencing everything, I'm so sorry. I do the same thing. In this Ray Lamont tag song, tag talk, I have no idea how to say his name, but he's an excellent artist. And the song is called Empty, and it's the pain you hide that fuels the fire inside you.
00:41:49
Speaker
And one of my dreams, something that I would really aspire to accomplish in my life, is I really want to adopt a child. And I want to adopt a child who's been through similar traumas as I have.
00:42:13
Speaker
And the reason for that is so that I can take these like awful experiences that I've had and to be able to use them and to help someone because my thinking is just like, why did I fucking go through all of this if I can't, you know, create some
00:42:35
Speaker
helpful change or something beautiful out of these things. So yeah, that's why there's something rather than nothing, I guess, is there has to be, I won't accept that there's not. I've been through things in my life and there has to be a reason, a positive
00:43:00
Speaker
reason for why this happened. And if there isn't, I'm going to fucking make it. I'm going to take the bull by the horns and find something beautiful that I can create out of these things.
00:43:16
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think there's a piece there where he says that there's a certain arrogance to the artist. There's a certain stubbornness to say like, I'm going to push this something in front of you. I'm going to do this. And I was thinking when you were talking about your experience and trying to help others and it is intimate as adopting is that,
00:43:45
Speaker
I saw a quote one time that really stuck with me and it was, uh, be the person you needed when you were younger. You know, if there were, if there was this idea of maybe it was a tiny little thing or maybe it was an affirmation or maybe it was like an area that nobody knew you were suffering in, but maybe, you know, like be the person
00:44:07
Speaker
that you were looking for there. And there's a kind of deep beauty to that that I was thinking about when you were talking. Yeah, that's really beautiful. And yeah, I've always felt that way too. Like I'm just going to be this person.
00:44:29
Speaker
for someone else, it just feels right. I guess I do definitely have a bit of a sense of an ego and an overarching sense of integrity. But I think those come about, that stubbornness you talked about, it's definitely just like, it's a survival thing. If I did not have that, I would not be here. And it's just a part of the makeup of who I am.
00:44:59
Speaker
All right. Liz, this is the point where you can be like super conspicuous about pointing to pointing the audience to where to find your
Where to Find Liz's Work
00:45:11
Speaker
stuff. You do a lot of different things. You don't have to hold back on what the future. But the main idea is like, you know, with your projects, your work, what do you want people to come in contact with? Where do they look? How did they view? I know you mentioned
00:45:26
Speaker
You know the the video or fail May 10, but yeah, so tell us tell us where to go where to look
00:45:37
Speaker
All right, so yeah, so our movie for Orfeo comes out May 10th. It streams online. You can find it via our website, brooklyntellamon.com. If you don't know, because I actually found a lot of people, some people are really into Greek mythology. They're like Lore Olympus lovers and Jason in the Argonauts was our favorite movie as a kid, et cetera. I mean, just in case you're not,
00:46:04
Speaker
The story of Orfeo is, he was, it's the same story as Hadestown. Anais Mitchell recently put out that Broadway musical. But it's the story of Orfeos who travels to the underworld to rescue his wife who recently died. And he tames the furies by making this beautiful music. And he basically makes a deal with the devil that, or with Hadies, or
00:46:33
Speaker
In some of the operas, it's with love itself. It's all very, you know, dependent because the story has been told so many times. But he makes a deal where he can bring his beloved back to the mortal realm as long as he doesn't look back at her. And that whole concept of
00:46:52
Speaker
trusting your partner to follow you and not looking back is something that's just been in the human psyche for hundreds of years, which is why this opera, this story, this concept is so amazing.
00:47:10
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so our movie, you can find it online at brooklyntellamon.com. You can follow me on Instagram, Liz Kiger at Liz Kiger. Um, I don't have a separate Instagram for the company. Um, but just like a little bit about our opera and how it's different is number one, it's a movie. Hey. Um,
00:47:33
Speaker
So that's huge. It's an hour long. It's an abbreviated version of the Gluck Reform of the opera. So this opera, it was one of the first stories ever told originally as an opera by Monteverdi. This is the Gluck Reform period version. So what we did was we took
00:47:56
Speaker
three different scores of it. And we combined all the best parts and then used them to also create some other characters to make it a little bit more fleshed out and narrative driven. So we have a Hades in it. We have a Charon. We have a Persephone. We have a puppy. We have a Cerberus, who's the cutest little Pomeranian in the whole world. Delphine Wateris' debut as Cerberus.
00:48:26
Speaker
Yeah, so it's really interesting in that regard. We have text from Dante's Inferno. The whole thing's in Italian, but there's subtitles. Honestly, if watching a movie all in Italian seems like a lot,
00:48:42
Speaker
just by watching the subtitles, you just get sucked in and you don't even realize it's an Italian anymore. The music is so exquisite. We pick and chose the best sections from it. And another thing I really want to mention is
00:48:57
Speaker
Our title role is a soprano. So Orpheus is traditionally done by originally a countertenor, or originally a castrati slash countertenor. And oftentimes in some of the like Paris reforms, it's done by a tenor. Modern productions usually have it performed by a mezzo-soprano, but a big aspect of our opera company is providing these
00:49:23
Speaker
roles two emerging artists. And we worked with Alexandra Paulus before in Arlen Coronazione di Popella and her acting ability and her ability to just capture just with her face these really big emotions and a lot of these big concepts we've been talking about today, but to be able to portray those through music and through her singing
00:49:47
Speaker
She just kills it. I knew immediately that she is who I wanted to play Orfeo, and when she accepted, I was ecstatic to have her on board this project.
00:50:03
Speaker
So this is like the only time a soprano has been Orfeo, like ever. So it's a pretty big deal. I know that Marilyn Horn sang some of the tenor versions of the Orfeo, like the big ario adillo.
00:50:24
Speaker
but she never sang them like in context of the show. So this is the first time we have that. And yeah, and it also brings out this LGBTQIA pairing of female Orpheus with female Yoredice. So yeah, sorry to just spout, spout, spout about the show, but it's a pretty fantastic movie shot in red Komodo 6K.
00:50:54
Speaker
And our cinematographer Matthew Kyle Levine is just amazing too.
00:51:01
Speaker
Um, so yeah, please go to brooklyntelemont.com. Check it out. You'll find our YouTube links and it's free. It's totally free. Um, we don't need any money, just kidding, but we don't like it. The purpose of my company and this whole project is like I said, to make things accessible to people and to, you know, promote these, these beautiful pieces and make it palatable and make it relevant.
00:51:27
Speaker
Um, the movie shot half outdoors and also half in this abandoned derelict building. So it's got some like very like modern vibes to it. There's, you know, peeling wallpaper and graffiti and it's, it's pretty sick. So please go check it out. I'm so excited. I want to, I'm so, I'm so excited for it. You're a good, uh,
00:51:58
Speaker
Uh, you're good on, you're good on your pitch too. Like I have like now and the listeners are like, now let's do this thing. Um, uh, Liz, um, I, I want to tell you, um, uh, it's, it's been a pleasure to chat with you and, um, I really, I've really enjoyed, you know, learning about you and, you know, kind of like the deeper elements of like why, why we do this stuff, right? Like how we dig in and what we're trying to do both in life.
00:52:27
Speaker
and in with art. So I really appreciate your time and honestly offering us art that's gonna be available for us very soon, but also connecting with your teaching and you as a person and how you think about your art. It's been a really distinct pleasure chatting with you.
00:52:56
Speaker
You know, maybe on a future episode, and I don't know what I'm getting myself into. I mean, I could just be like, Liz, you're an expert in this Baroque thing. Can you just like cover Baroque, right? And you'd be like, okay.
00:53:10
Speaker
I would love to. I recently gave a lecture at Columbia University on the history of the Kastrati tradition and stuff. It's something that's always fascinated me, I think, as a non-binary person and as someone who sings a lot of the Kastrati repertoire. So I would love to just spout. I think you can tell I can talk a lot.
00:53:39
Speaker
Yeah, that makes the two of us, so that'll line up part two down the road. But folks, connect with Liz now. Liz Kiger, thank you so much for coming out to something rather than nothing. And best of luck with everything. I'm going to follow closely the great art you create.
00:54:02
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so honored to be a guest. And yeah, I'm really looking forward to continuing to connect. Yeah, pleasure is ours. And of course, being from Rhode Island originally, I do have to give a shout out to Brooklyn. It's obligatory. Shout out to Brooklyn. Thank you. Thank you, Liz. All the way from here out on the other coast in Oregon. Liz Kiger, thank you so much. And we'll chat again soon.
00:54:38
Speaker
This is something rather than nothing.