The Consul, an American opera from 1950, tells the story of Magda and John Sorel, who live in an unnamed totalitarian country. John is a leader of the resistance, and he escapes to an unnamed First World country. Magda wants to join him through official channels, but she is stopped literally dead in her tracks by the ever increasing paperwork demands of the Secretary of the Consulate.
This opera is as relevant now as when it won the Pulitzer in 1950. In debates about immigration, extreme vetting, and travel bans, it can sometimes be easy to forget about the real people whose lives can be fundamentally altered by every new bureaucratic decision.
In addition to Magda and her family, The Consul features an eclectic mix of characters who are all waiting at the Consulate for their visa. They sing in beautiful, stirring ensembles and each have their own solos in which they tell us their story.
This is an opera with powerful and incredibly emotional music and a great story, and it simply needs to be performed now.
Just Opera is a newly created indie company in the Bay Area, run by soprano Katia Hayati. I immigrated to the US from a totalitarian country. I can’t go back, because over there my marriage to a man of a different religion is illegal and carries a jail sentence. While my path to US citizenship was smoother than many, I’ve faced deportation within the month twice. Another fun episode was when the legitimacy of my marriage was contested by USCIS and I had to provide an 80 page dossier to officially attest my marital love. My theory at the time was that someone at USCIS was moonlighting as a romance novel writer and wanted free material.
I strongly identify with Magda and I need to get this story told. I’ve teamed up with conductor Marie-Louise Catsalis and director Sandra Bengochea, and we’ve put together an incredible cast of singers who were all moved by the urgency of the message.
I’ve sung with many local companies like West Bay Opera, Lamplighters, Bay Area Opera Collaborative, and Stanford Light Opera Company. Before embarking on my singing adventures I was a senior software engineering manager at both large companies and startups.
Sandra is an experienced director and soprano who has sung and directed at companies like Opera San José, Intermountain Opera, and Opera Idaho. Marie-Louise is an accomplished conductor, pianist, and vocal coach who teaches at Stanford University. The cast is extremely strong, and includes singers who haves performed at San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, West Bay Opera, Lamplighters, and others.
But opera, especially good opera, doesn’t come cheap. I am self-funding this production, and every dollar helps.
We need funding to help pay for:
We understand that not everyone can offer us financial support. You can still support our project and show your love of modern opera and live music by: