Podcast appearances and mentions of matthew shilvock

This week's esteemed guest has been the Director of the San Francisco Opera Chorus for 34 years and is an incredible conductor and musician. A Scotland native, Robertson moved to the States and joined the SF Opera Company in 1987 and led the Opera Chorus in 342 productions, including world premiere commissions and significant expansions of the company's repertoire and performance capacity. Among these accomplishments include: Prokofiev's War and Peace, two productions of Britten's Billy Budd, and the American premiere of Messiaen's rare Saint François d'Assise, of which he received a prize in 2002 for his work on this premiere. He has even held the longest tenure of any Opera Chorus Director in the Company's history. Robertson's career has also included the 23-year long role as Artistic Director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus, where he also helped expand and invigorate the company's success and vitality. His leadership in both positions has helped produce wonderful collaborations with the San Francisco Boys Chorus and San Francisco Opera Company over the years. Many who have worked with and under Ian have only admirable things to say about him: “Robertson has been a pillar of tremendous artistic strength at the San Francisco Opera. He has guided and shaped the sound and musicality of the San Francisco Opera Chorus with insightful leadership” (Matthew Shilvock). Ian has a kind and strong demeanor about him, both in and out of rehearsal. He cares deeply about those he works with, and has a consistent positive outlook on the life of the Company and the legacy of Classical music for future generations. This will be Ian's final season at the San Francisco Opera, and we were so glad to have had the opportunity to interview him during this momentous time in his career. For more information about Ian Robertson, please visit: https://sfopera.com/ Meet Ian Robertson!

The San Francisco Opera is one of the world's leading performing arts organizations, with an annual operating budget of $30 million. How did this renowned company use digital technology to adapt its business models and performances during the last year? Matthew Shilvock, General Director of the San Francisco Opera, describes the digital transformation strategy and technologies the company has used during this last year of rapid change.We discussed these topics during the conversation:-- About the San Francisco Opera-- Digital transformation and the SF Opera-- Impact of the pandemic on performing artists-- Customer experience and audience expectations at the San Francisco Opera-- What does innovation mean to the SF Opera?-- Creating authenticity and spontaneity at the SF Opera-- How does digital transformation impact performance?-- Musician's perspective on digital transformation-- Advice on how to listen to operaMatthew Shilvock is the Tad and Dianne Taube General Director of San Francisco Opera. Now in his fifth season as general director, Shilvock is responsible for all artistic and business aspects of the organization, overseeing a repertory season of mainstage opera productions and concerts, education and community programming, new digital initiatives, and young artist training programs.

Matthew Shilvock, the general director of the San Francisco Opera, talks about the reemergence of the 1,000-person opera company and how its shutdown during the pandemic could be the catalyst for a younger, more digital, and more experimental future.

Join us as we head to San Francisco to chat with Matthew Shilvock, General Director of San Francisco Opera, about opera, its future and new found time spent with family. https://sfopera.com/

Matthew Shilvock, general director of the San Francisco Opera, has announced that San Francisco Opera, which has the largest performing arts organization staff in the Bay Area, has created a department of equity, diversity and inclusion to meet an institutional commitment both within the organization and externally. The department will implement strategies to build organizational capacity, structures and policies to help ensure San Francisco Opera is a welcoming, inclusive place to work and experience opera. The San Francisco Opera will continue its Arts Resources in Action (ARIA) residency program, which connects K–8 students and teachers to the process of opera creation across multiple visits, as well as the ARIA dress rehearsal and professional development programs. It will also continue select Community. Understanding. Engagement. (CUE) programs, the company's suite of programs for the broader community of adults, families and youth, building conversation and engagement around the stories being told on the War Memorial Opera House stage. Charles Chip Mc Neal will lead the new department. Mc Neal is currently senior curriculum and program manager in the San Francisco Opera education department. NOTES MLF: Arts In association with Theatre Bay Area Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lucia Lucas sweeps across a noisy diner in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at 9 a.m. on a Saturday wearing a calf-length, black brocade frock coat and a bright, lipsticked smile.Most opera singers in her position would be resting up the morning after a big debut. But not Lucas.“Last night was super weird,” she said, tucking into a plate of chicken fried steak and eggs. “There were so many things going on all at once.” When Lucia Lucas stepped into the role of Don Giovanni, she became the first transgender person to sing a lead part in a standard operatic work in the US. Credit: Emily Steward The 38-year-old, Germany-based baritone just made her debut as Don Giovanni with the Tulsa Opera, becoming the first transgender person to sing a lead role in a standard operatic work in the US.Related: A US transgender activist is stuck in Sweden. The UN wants to investigate.The New York Times sent a reporter. The Metropolitan Opera sent a casting representative. Lucas had a documentary crew following her around. And her dad, whom she hadn’t seen for a decade, flew in specially for the occasion.“There was a lot of pressure to sing well,” Lucas said.Lucas says she’d been wrestling with questions about her gender identity since she was a kid growing up in Northern California.“My mom caught me with makeup,” she said of her formative years. “My dad found my stash of girl’s clothes.”It was a difficult time.Related: 'Transgender women are women,' organizers say after controversy over women-only pond in LondonShe nearly came out at college. But her career was starting to blossom, and she fell in love with a fellow opera singer — a woman. They got married (and are still together today). So, Lucas put the decision off. Transgender opera singer Lucia Lucas moved to Germany in 2009. Her wife followed two years later. Lucas says they headed for Europe because there was more opportunity there. Credit: Josh New “I guess I just sort of thought maybe I can have this normal life,” Lucas said.Lucas moved to Germany in 2009. Her wife followed two years later. Lucas says they headed for Europe because there was more opportunity there.“It's really difficult to make a career in opera in the US,” she said. “But in Germany, there’s 80-plus full-time theaters.”Lucas continued to present as a man publicly. But she says she kept a drawerful of “inside clothes” at home, and she and her wife sometimes talked about her gender identity.She was close to five years into a steady, salaried job as a singer with the highly regarded Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe when she finally decided she had to come out.“There's so many people that would love to be a working artist where they make at least enough money to live and continue doing their art full time. But it wasn't fulfilling for me.”Lucia Lucas“There's so many people that would love to be a working artist where they make at least enough money to live and continue doing their art full time,” Lucas said of her decision to come out. “But it wasn't fulfilling for me.”Lucas chose the Staatstheater’s splashy 2014 opera ball for the occasion. She made quite an entrance.“We were startled,” said Jan Linders, the company’s deputy general artistic director. “She came fully dressed as a woman, and made it clear that she wanted to be addressed as Lucia from that day on.”Linders says after getting over the initial shock, the company grappled with what to do about their first female baritone.“There were many questions arising,” Linders said. “Where should be her dressing room? Should it be in the ladies or the gentlemen floor? How should she be addressed in program books? How could we convey this private change to directors that would cast her?”Lucas says the opera company ultimately decided not to renew her contract. (The company isn’t commenting on that.) So, she threw herself into finding other work. She landed opera gigs with companies across Europe, performed in clubs and bars, and settled on pursuing a freelance career.Opera has a long history of gender play. Female singers have been masquerading as young men and boys in so-called “trouser roles” or “pants roles” for hundreds of years, like Cherubino in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and Octavian in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.”But professional opportunities for transgender performers have been slow to come about. There are only very few singers currently getting mainstage work at opera houses around the world. The most prominent example, other than Lucas, is the Norwegian mezzo-soprano, Adrian Angelico, who identifies as male.Lucas says the compliments she often gets at auditions don’t necessarily translate into contracts. So, she often dons fake facial hair at auditions to prove she can play male characters onstage.“A lot of people are really confused because they have ‘Ms. Lucia Lucas’ on their paperwork as a baritone. But I'm presenting with a beard in masculine attire.”Lucia Lucas“A lot of people are really confused because they have ‘Ms. Lucia Lucas’ on their paperwork as a baritone,” she said. “But I'm presenting with a beard in masculine attire.” Lucia Lucas, a transgender opera singer, often performs alpha male roles. “A lot of people are really confused because they have ‘Ms. Lucia Lucas’ on their paperwork as a baritone,” she said. “But I'm presenting with a beard in masculine attire.” Credit: Johannes Kaplan Taking female hormones doesn’t raise your voice. And Lucas made a conscious decision not to retrain hers to sing higher parts.“I don’t know how long I would have to take off from my day job, which is singing baritone,” she said. “And I have work through 2022.”She’s also suspicious of the reasons companies give — if they give any — for failing to follow through on auditions she’s been promised, or dropping her from their roster.“Nobody is fired for being trans,” Lucas said. “They’re fired for being 90 seconds late, or not complying with the dress code regulations.”While trans opera singers are only just starting to make headway in an industry steeped in tradition and not known for its forward-thinking ways, opera administrators are beginning to show interest in the possibilities of casting them.“The potential doors that this is now opening for trans singers is a very exciting step forward,” said Matthew Shilvock, the director general of the San Francisco Opera. He says trans singers have not yet come forward to audition for roles at his organization, one of the largest in the US. “I don’t see it any different from us looking at any other singer. If the voice is right for the role and right for the house, I would gladly hire that person.”Tobias Picker, the artistic director at Tulsa Opera — and a composer — says he cast Lucas as Don Giovanni because he simply fell in love with her voice.“Lucia has her own sound,” said Picker, who is currently writing an opera based on David Ebershoff’s 2000 novel about a transgender painter, “The Danish Girl,” with Lucas in the starring role. “It sparkles. It has flecks of light like gold.” Lucia Lucas stars as Wotan in "Die Walküre" with Theater Magdeburg.  Credit: Andreas Lander Though she says the visibility she’s been getting lately has been helpful for her career, Lucas hopes the hoopla around transgender opera singers will eventually go away.She wants to continue to play baritone roles like Wotan and Don Giovanni, without anyone making a big deal of the fact that she’s a woman.“I had a theater director in Germany say, ‘Oh my gosh, this trans thing, it’s hot right now,’” she said. “I don't want that. I want it to be not a thing.”

Lucia Lucas sweeps across a noisy diner in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at 9 a.m. on a Saturday wearing a calf-length, black brocade frock coat and a bright, lipsticked smile.Most opera singers in her position would be resting up the morning after a big debut. But not Lucas.“Last night was super weird,” she said, tucking into a plate of chicken fried steak and eggs. “There were so many things going on all at once.” When Lucia Lucas stepped into the role of Don Giovanni, she became the first transgender person to sing a lead part in a standard operatic work in the US. Credit: Emily Steward The 38-year-old, Germany-based baritone just made her debut as Don Giovanni with the Tulsa Opera, becoming the first transgender person to sing a lead role in a standard operatic work in the US.Related: A US transgender activist is stuck in Sweden. The UN wants to investigate.The New York Times sent a reporter. The Metropolitan Opera sent a casting representative. Lucas had a documentary crew following her around. And her dad, whom she hadn't seen for a decade, flew in specially for the occasion.“There was a lot of pressure to sing well,” Lucas said.Lucas says she'd been wrestling with questions about her gender identity since she was a kid growing up in Northern California.“My mom caught me with makeup,” she said of her formative years. “My dad found my stash of girl's clothes.”It was a difficult time.Related: 'Transgender women are women,' organizers say after controversy over women-only pond in LondonShe nearly came out at college. But her career was starting to blossom, and she fell in love with a fellow opera singer — a woman. They got married (and are still together today). So, Lucas put the decision off. Transgender opera singer Lucia Lucas moved to Germany in 2009. Her wife followed two years later. Lucas says they headed for Europe because there was more opportunity there. Credit: Josh New “I guess I just sort of thought maybe I can have this normal life,” Lucas said.Lucas moved to Germany in 2009. Her wife followed two years later. Lucas says they headed for Europe because there was more opportunity there.“It's really difficult to make a career in opera in the US,” she said. “But in Germany, there's 80-plus full-time theaters.”Lucas continued to present as a man publicly. But she says she kept a drawerful of “inside clothes” at home, and she and her wife sometimes talked about her gender identity.She was close to five years into a steady, salaried job as a singer with the highly regarded Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe when she finally decided she had to come out.“There's so many people that would love to be a working artist where they make at least enough money to live and continue doing their art full time. But it wasn't fulfilling for me.”Lucia Lucas“There's so many people that would love to be a working artist where they make at least enough money to live and continue doing their art full time,” Lucas said of her decision to come out. “But it wasn't fulfilling for me.”Lucas chose the Staatstheater's splashy 2014 opera ball for the occasion. She made quite an entrance.“We were startled,” said Jan Linders, the company's deputy general artistic director. “She came fully dressed as a woman, and made it clear that she wanted to be addressed as Lucia from that day on.”Linders says after getting over the initial shock, the company grappled with what to do about their first female baritone.“There were many questions arising,” Linders said. “Where should be her dressing room? Should it be in the ladies or the gentlemen floor? How should she be addressed in program books? How could we convey this private change to directors that would cast her?”Lucas says the opera company ultimately decided not to renew her contract. (The company isn't commenting on that.) So, she threw herself into finding other work. She landed opera gigs with companies across Europe, performed in clubs and bars, and settled on pursuing a freelance career.Opera has a long history of gender play. Female singers have been masquerading as young men and boys in so-called “trouser roles” or “pants roles” for hundreds of years, like Cherubino in Mozart's “The Marriage of Figaro” and Octavian in Strauss' “Der Rosenkavalier.”But professional opportunities for transgender performers have been slow to come about. There are only very few singers currently getting mainstage work at opera houses around the world. The most prominent example, other than Lucas, is the Norwegian mezzo-soprano, Adrian Angelico, who identifies as male.Lucas says the compliments she often gets at auditions don't necessarily translate into contracts. So, she often dons fake facial hair at auditions to prove she can play male characters onstage.“A lot of people are really confused because they have ‘Ms. Lucia Lucas' on their paperwork as a baritone. But I'm presenting with a beard in masculine attire.”Lucia Lucas“A lot of people are really confused because they have ‘Ms. Lucia Lucas' on their paperwork as a baritone,” she said. “But I'm presenting with a beard in masculine attire.” Lucia Lucas, a transgender opera singer, often performs alpha male roles. “A lot of people are really confused because they have ‘Ms. Lucia Lucas' on their paperwork as a baritone,” she said. “But I'm presenting with a beard in masculine attire.” Credit: Johannes Kaplan Taking female hormones doesn't raise your voice. And Lucas made a conscious decision not to retrain hers to sing higher parts.“I don't know how long I would have to take off from my day job, which is singing baritone,” she said. “And I have work through 2022.”She's also suspicious of the reasons companies give — if they give any — for failing to follow through on auditions she's been promised, or dropping her from their roster.“Nobody is fired for being trans,” Lucas said. “They're fired for being 90 seconds late, or not complying with the dress code regulations.”While trans opera singers are only just starting to make headway in an industry steeped in tradition and not known for its forward-thinking ways, opera administrators are beginning to show interest in the possibilities of casting them.“The potential doors that this is now opening for trans singers is a very exciting step forward,” said Matthew Shilvock, the director general of the San Francisco Opera. He says trans singers have not yet come forward to audition for roles at his organization, one of the largest in the US. “I don't see it any different from us looking at any other singer. If the voice is right for the role and right for the house, I would gladly hire that person.”Tobias Picker, the artistic director at Tulsa Opera — and a composer — says he cast Lucas as Don Giovanni because he simply fell in love with her voice.“Lucia has her own sound,” said Picker, who is currently writing an opera based on David Ebershoff's 2000 novel about a transgender painter, “The Danish Girl,” with Lucas in the starring role. “It sparkles. It has flecks of light like gold.” Lucia Lucas stars as Wotan in "Die Walküre" with Theater Magdeburg.  Credit: Andreas Lander Though she says the visibility she's been getting lately has been helpful for her career, Lucas hopes the hoopla around transgender opera singers will eventually go away.She wants to continue to play baritone roles like Wotan and Don Giovanni, without anyone making a big deal of the fact that she's a woman.“I had a theater director in Germany say, ‘Oh my gosh, this trans thing, it's hot right now,'” she said. “I don't want that. I want it to be not a thing.”

Ett av världens största konstmusikpris - Birgit Nilsson-priset - tilldelades den 15 maj 2018 operasångerskan Nina Stemme. I dokumentären berättar Stemme om den passion som göder hennes konstnärskap. - Det är en eld inuti mig, som ibland övergår till begynnande härdsmälta, säger Stemme och fortsätter: - Jag försöker känna att jag sjunger med hela kroppen - att varenda cell är engagerad. En gång i tiden fick hon inte ens tillträde till körerna i Adolf Fredriks musikklasser och det sångliga självförtroendet var inte så stort. - Jag tyckte jag sjöng ganska fult, men sjunga skulle man ju göra - för det hade jag gjort sedan jag var 9 år, säger Stemme och berättar om sin förvåning när hon fick sin första sångliga framgång vid high school i USA. Det var en framgången som ledde till sångstudier, men tidigt valde hon att prioritera familj och barn - även om inte operacheferna fann valet lika självklart, säger hon. Sofia Nyblom träffade Nina Stemme strax efter det att hon hade genomfört fyra Wagners "Ring-cykler" våren 2017 på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm samt inför nypremiären på operan Turandot i San Francisco samma år. I programmet medverkar röstcoachen Leif Lundberg samt regissörerna Staffan Valdemar Holm och Christoph Loy. Vi hör dessutom operachefen Matthew Shilvock vid San Francisco Opera och Sveriges generalkonsul i Los Angeles Barbro Osher beskriva intrycken av Ninas första Brynhilde. Programmet är en repris senast från den 19 maj 2018. En P2 Dokumentär av Sofia Nyblom/Munck.

Ett av världens största konstmusikpris - Birgit Nilsson-priset - tilldelades den 15 maj 2018 operasångerskan Nina Stemme. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. I dokumentären berättar Stemme om den passion som göder hennes konstnärskap. - Det är en eld inuti mig, som ibland övergår till begynnande härdsmälta, säger Stemme och fortsätter: - Jag försöker känna att jag sjunger med hela kroppen - att varenda cell är engagerad. En gång i tiden fick hon inte ens tillträde till körerna i Adolf Fredriks musikklasser och det sångliga självförtroendet var inte så stort. - Jag tyckte jag sjöng ganska fult, men sjunga skulle man ju göra - för det hade jag gjort sedan jag var 9 år, säger Stemme och berättar om sin förvåning när hon fick sin första sångliga framgång vid high school i USA. Det var en framgången som ledde till sångstudier, men tidigt valde hon att prioritera familj och barn - även om inte operacheferna fann valet lika självklart, säger hon. Sofia Nyblom träffade Nina Stemme strax efter det att hon hade genomfört fyra Wagners "Ring-cykler" våren 2017 på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm samt inför nypremiären på operan Turandot i San Francisco samma år. I programmet medverkar röstcoachen Leif Lundberg samt regissörerna Staffan Valdemar Holm och Christoph Loy. Vi hör dessutom operachefen Matthew Shilvock vid San Francisco Opera och Sveriges generalkonsul i Los Angeles Barbro Osher beskriva intrycken av Ninas första Brynhilde. Programmet är en repris senast från den 19 maj 2018. En P2 Dokumentär av Sofia Nyblom/Munck.

Ett av världens största konstmusikpris - Birgit Nilsson-priset - tilldelades den 15 maj 2018 operasångerskan Nina Stemme. I dokumentären berättar Stemme exklusivt för kulturjournalisten Sofia Nyblom om den passion som göder hennes konstnärskap. - Det är en eld inuti mig, som ibland övergår till begynnande härdsmälta, säger Stemme och fortsätter: - Jag försöker känna att jag sjunger med hela kroppen - att varenda cell är engagerad. En gång i tiden fick hon inte ens tillträde till körerna i Adolf Fredriks musikklasser och det sångliga självförtroendet var inte så stort. - Jag tyckte jag sjöng ganska fult, men sjunga skulle man ju göra - för det hade jag gjort sedan jag var 9 år, säger Stemme och berättar om sin förvåning när hon fick sin första sångliga framgång vid high school i USA. Det var en framgången som ledde till sångstudier, men tidigt valde hon att prioritera familj och barn - även om inte operacheferna fann valet lika självklart, säger hon. Sofia Nyblom träffade Nina Stemme strax efter det att hon hade genomfört fyra Wagners "Ring-cykler" våren 2017 på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm samt inför nypremiären på operan Turandot i San Francisco samma år. I programmet medverkar röstcoachen Leif Lundberg samt regissörerna Staffan Valdemar Holm och Christoph Loy. Vi hör dessutom operachefen Matthew Shilvock vid San Francisco Opera och Sveriges generalkonsul i Los Angeles Barbro Osher beskriva intrycken av Ninas första Brynhilde. En P2 Dokumentär av Sofia Nyblom/Munck. Den tidigare aviserade reprisen av P2 Dokumentären "Möt tonsättaren Kent Olofsson" utgår och sänds vid ett annat tillfälle.

Ett av världens största konstmusikpris - Birgit Nilsson-priset - tilldelades den 15 maj 2018 operasångerskan Nina Stemme. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. I dokumentären berättar Stemme exklusivt för kulturjournalisten Sofia Nyblom om den passion som göder hennes konstnärskap. - Det är en eld inuti mig, som ibland övergår till begynnande härdsmälta, säger Stemme och fortsätter: - Jag försöker känna att jag sjunger med hela kroppen - att varenda cell är engagerad. En gång i tiden fick hon inte ens tillträde till körerna i Adolf Fredriks musikklasser och det sångliga självförtroendet var inte så stort. - Jag tyckte jag sjöng ganska fult, men sjunga skulle man ju göra - för det hade jag gjort sedan jag var 9 år, säger Stemme och berättar om sin förvåning när hon fick sin första sångliga framgång vid high school i USA. Det var en framgången som ledde till sångstudier, men tidigt valde hon att prioritera familj och barn - även om inte operacheferna fann valet lika självklart, säger hon. Sofia Nyblom träffade Nina Stemme strax efter det att hon hade genomfört fyra Wagners "Ring-cykler" våren 2017 på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm samt inför nypremiären på operan Turandot i San Francisco samma år. I programmet medverkar röstcoachen Leif Lundberg samt regissörerna Staffan Valdemar Holm och Christoph Loy. Vi hör dessutom operachefen Matthew Shilvock vid San Francisco Opera och Sveriges generalkonsul i Los Angeles Barbro Osher beskriva intrycken av Ninas första Brynhilde. En P2 Dokumentär av Sofia Nyblom/Munck. Den tidigare aviserade reprisen av P2 Dokumentären "Möt tonsättaren Kent Olofsson" utgår och sänds vid ett annat tillfälle.

Världens ledande konsert- och operahus tävlar om att få engagera den svenska sopranen Nina Stemme. Här berättar hon exklusivt för Sofia Nyblom om den passion som göder hennes konstnärskap. - Det är en eld inuti mig, som ibland övergår till begynnande härdsmälta, säger Nina Stemme och fortsätter: - Jag försöker känna att jag sjunger med hela kroppen - att varenda cell är engagerad. En gång i tiden fick hon inte ens tillträde till körerna i Adolf Fredriks musikklasser och det sångliga självförtroendet var inte så stort. - Jag tyckte jag sjöng ganska fult, men sjunga skulle man ju göra - för det hade jag gjort sedan jag var 9 år, säger Stemme och berättar om sin förvåning när hon fick sin första sångliga framgång vid high school i USA. Det var en framgången som ledde till sångstudier, men tidigt valde hon att prioritera familj och barn - även om inte operacheferna fann valet lika självklart. - Jag provsjöng till Bayreuth, och fick inte större roller än Freia, berättar Nina Stemme. Sofia Nyblom har träffat Nina Stemme strax efter det att hon genomfört fyra Wagners "Ring-cykler" våren 2017 på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm samt inför nypremiären på operan Turandot i San Francisco samma år. I programmet medverkar röstcoachen Leif Lundberg samt regissörerna Staffan Valdemar Holm och Christoph Loy. Vi hör dessutom operachefen Matthew Shilvock vid San Francisco Opera och Sveriges generalkonsul i Los Angeles Barbro Osher beskriva intrycken av Ninas första Brynhilde. En P2 Dokumentär av Sofia Nyblom/produktionsbolaget Munck.

Världens ledande konsert- och operahus tävlar om att få engagera den svenska sopranen Nina Stemme. Här berättar hon exklusivt för Sofia Nyblom om den passion som göder hennes konstnärskap. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. - Det är en eld inuti mig, som ibland övergår till begynnande härdsmälta, säger Nina Stemme och fortsätter: - Jag försöker känna att jag sjunger med hela kroppen - att varenda cell är engagerad. En gång i tiden fick hon inte ens tillträde till körerna i Adolf Fredriks musikklasser och det sångliga självförtroendet var inte så stort. - Jag tyckte jag sjöng ganska fult, men sjunga skulle man ju göra - för det hade jag gjort sedan jag var 9 år, säger Stemme och berättar om sin förvåning när hon fick sin första sångliga framgång vid high school i USA. Det var en framgången som ledde till sångstudier, men tidigt valde hon att prioritera familj och barn - även om inte operacheferna fann valet lika självklart. - Jag provsjöng till Bayreuth, och fick inte större roller än Freia, berättar Nina Stemme. Sofia Nyblom har träffat Nina Stemme strax efter det att hon genomfört fyra Wagners "Ring-cykler" våren 2017 på Kungliga Operan i Stockholm samt inför nypremiären på operan Turandot i San Francisco samma år. I programmet medverkar röstcoachen Leif Lundberg samt regissörerna Staffan Valdemar Holm och Christoph Loy. Vi hör dessutom operachefen Matthew Shilvock vid San Francisco Opera och Sveriges generalkonsul i Los Angeles Barbro Osher beskriva intrycken av Ninas första Brynhilde. En P2 Dokumentär av Sofia Nyblom/produktionsbolaget Munck.