In collaboration with Opera Cultura and in celebration of Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month, mezzo-soprano Melisa Bonetti Luna and pianist Marika Yasuda will perform new compositions by thriving Latine Bay Area composers Héctor Armienta, Carla Lucero, and Nicolás Lell Benavides. All pieces performed will be contemporary Spanish-language opera and art song works.

About Melisa Bonetti Luna

Melisa Bonetti Luna, Dominican-American mezzo-soprano and current Opera San Jose resident artist, has performed as a soloist in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Kimmel Center. Her contemporary lead performances include Zorro (Opera San Jose), Ainadamar (Lexington Philharmonic), An American Dream (Virginia Opera), Three Way (premiere and Grammy-nominated recording; Nashville Opera), Carmen (adaptation; Hogfish festival), West Side Story (Brott Music Festival), Granados Tonadillas (Naxos recording), Paraíso (premiere; National Sawdust), and Climate Opera Project (premiere; BAM).

About Opera Cultura

Opera Cultura’s mission is to give voice to the Latino/x/a/e community through opera, while providing opportunities for the San José community to participate as creators, learners, and performers. Opera Cultura accomplishes this by presenting the work of composer Héctor Armienta and other Hispanic composers, showcasing exceptional artists, and training young people in the performing arts. By doing so, we create a cultural bridge between communities.

Japanese-American pianist and vocal coach Marika Yasuda is a graduate of the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera, and a doctoral candidate at Indiana University. Recent performances include onstage pianist in L’Elisir D’Amore at San Francisco Opera, and music staff for mainstage productions of El último sueño de Frida y Diego, La Traviata, and Dream of the Red Chamber. This season, Marika returns to the San Francisco Opera for The Handmaid’s Tale.

Héctor Armienta, a nationally recognized composer and librettist, focuses on work that explores Mexican and Mexican-American cultural experiences. His awards and commissions include from Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, the MapFund, the CCSRE Arts Mellon Fellowship at Stanford University, Fort Worth Opera, the Pacific Symphony, Opera Southwest, and Oakland East Bay Symphony. His opera Zorro, is scheduled for performances with Opera San Jose and Arizona Opera in 2025.

Composer and librettist Carla Lucero creates music that moves people to rethink stereotypes and empower the voiceless and invisible. Her opera, Las Tres Mujeres de Jerusalén, was commissioned, premiered, and will be remounted by LA Opera in 2025. Carla is currently commissioned to create operas: Hello, Star, with Opera Paralléle, premiering 2025; The Tower of Babel, with LA Opera; and Tea, with Hawai’i Opera Theatre.

Composer and conductor Nicolás Lell Benavides received commissions from New York Philharmonic/Juilliard School, Eighth Blackbird, New Century Chamber Orchestra, SFCM Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Music of Remembrance, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Fry Street Quartet, Friction Quartet, and Khemia Ensemble. He has received support from American Composers Forum, Barlow Endowment, New Music USA, Opera America, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Nicolás’ opera Dolores premieres with Opera West Edge in 2025.

Ticket info

Free. A museum ticket is not required for admission. 

Contact info

Public Programs
publicprograms@famsf.org
415.750.7694