In today's episode, I interview Kirsten Kunkle, a soprano, librettist, pedagogue, composer, and member of the Mvskoke Nation. She shares how she combines her Native heritage with her love and passion for classical music, and why reclaiming culture is important for all of us. Topics in this episode include: How to know the best musical direction for youSetting pidgin EnglishEthnomusicologyWorking with other Native musiciansThe melting of European-American and Native-American culturesSeeing a void in the repertoire and seeking to fill itThe move toward DEI in the artsThe Circle of Resistance Concert of 2021The responsibility of being a professional in musicBuilding a legacy, individually and collectivelyNative themese do not need to be stereoptypicalExocitism and "Indianist" musicAllowing for differing interpretations and layers of meaningShell-Shaker: A Chickasaw OperaMvskoke LullabyRevitalizing, Renewing and Reclaiming CultureThe specific is the universal Lauded as the leading Native American soprano in today's classical music world, Dr. Kristen C. Kunkle is a voting citizen of the Mvskoke Nation. She has been hailed as an outstanding singing actress with a voice that has been described as beautiful, ethereal, powerful, fiery, and bewitching. Kirsten commissioned and premiered sixteen original compositions, including one of her own, based on the poetry of her ancestor and highly-acclaimed poet of the Native American Muscogee Nation, Alex Posey. Her recordings are collected at the Library of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution, and the Merkel Area Museum in Merkel, Texas. Kristen is included on the list of Classical Native American Artists and Musicians at the Smithsonian Institution's NMAI and on the Molto Native American list of performers. She was featured as a composer and soloist for the Circle of Resistance concert with intermountain Opera Bozeman in May, 2021. A chamption of new and unrecorded music, Kirsten works frequently in the realm of new music or previously unrecorded music, With the Philadelphia Opera Collective, she created leading roles in numerous world premieres, including Edith Standen in Shadow House, Annie Jump Cannon in Jump the Moon, Edgar Allan Poe/The Poet in Opera Macabre: Edgar Allen Poe, and Dr. Frankenstein in By You that Made Me, Frankenstein. She also created the role of Space Mad Woman in Toowhopera by Sorrell Hayes. She has recorded extensively through the Comic Opera Guild, specializing in the works of Victor Herbert. Most recently, Kirsten recorded the leading role of Catherine Sloper for the world premiere of the new opera Washington Square, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. She made her solo European debut with the Sofia Philharmonic in the role of Arabella in Johann Strauss II's Blindekuh. She is also a NAXOS recording artist for the world premiere recording of Blindejuh, which was released in March 2020 to extraordinary reviews. Among her favorite roles in the standard operatic repertoire are Agathe in Der Freischutz, the title role in Suor Angelica, Magda and the Foreign Woman in the Consul, Mimi in La Boheme, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Iolanta and Brigitta in Iolanta, Zemfira in Aleko, Lisa in Pique Dame, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas. She has an Honorable Mention for the American Prize in Voice - Professional Art Song and Oratorio Division (Women), as well as being a two-time semi-finalist for The American Pirze in Opera (Women.) She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2014, and in the same year she was the Pennsylvania District National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Winner. Kirsten won second place in the Roschel Vocal Competition in 2015. Kirsten attended Bowling Green State University and the University of Salzburg for her undergraduate studies, majoring in voice performance with minors in Italian and German. Her masters and doctoral degrees are in voice performance from the University of Michigan. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals and is a successful voice educator. Having previously taught on the faculties of Lincoln University, Shorter College, Youngstown State University, Wright State University, and Terra Community College, Kirsten currently maintains a private vocal studio. Kirsten is the proud Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Wilmington Concert Opera, a grassroots women and minority-led opera company in Wilmington, Delaware. Kirsten has spent the majority of her time during the pandemic recording new works, promoting the arts through Wilmington Concert Opera, writing opera libretti and composing song, chamber music, and choral music and raising her young daughter. Upcoming events focus on feminist and Native American based projects, as well as continuing to bring opera to everyone through ...
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