By Tom Lady
Welcome to another all-new episode of BRAVO Live!
In this episode, the Opera League's head of Education, Larry Verdugo, interviews Andrea Fuentes of LA Opera Connects, LA Opera's tiny but mighty education and community engagement team.
In this fascinating conversation, they trace Andrea's long and winding journey from a soprano, and almost-mezzo, to her decision to put the brakes on singing so she could go to college to pursue a career in medicine. From there she circles back to singing, albeit briefly, before finally embracing her passion for spreading the love of culture, including and especially opera, to the next generation. With two masters degrees, one in music, the other in education, capped off with a doctorate in education, Andrea is now primed to harness her unique background and skillset to lead LA Opera Connects to a new level of bringing opera to the community.
Check out the full interview below.
About BRAVO Live!
BRAVO Live! is a relatively new series the Opera League launched in March 2021. Inspired by the League's flagship print publication, BRAVO (check out recent issues here and here), BRAVO Live!'s charter is to adapt BRAVO's interview format for the virtual space to spotlight today's brightest stars of the musical firmament, both in front of and behind the curtain.
By the way, if you missed the first two episodes of BRAVO Live!, check them out on the Opera League's YouTube channel.
Without further ado, please enjoy episode three.