#trans opera

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Is it a father's place to curb this joy? Should I let youth cavort about carefree, Or does paternal obligation call For sadder duties? Rather had I ought To teach my child spare sobriety, The lessons of my age: That little joy The world has set aside for Jews, that we Are faced with curse and sorrow oft instead, That patience and forbearance are our lot More oft than song and dance... ...'Tis true, 'Tis true, and yet it seems a shame to chide The joy from such a joyous child's heart. Alas! I am grown old, and if my age Brings wisdom, it brings also doubt....

just a little excerpt from one of Shylock's big arias in The Quality of Mercy. if you want to hear how it sounds with music, sign up for the reading of the first act this Thursday, in person and online! be there or be somewhere else >:)

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Zdenko & Matteo 🌈🏳️‍⚧️💞

Deutsche Oper Berlin 2023

From BFFs to BFs

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World’s first major opera about a transgender historical character is premiered

The story of 20th-century Danish painter Lili Elbe is told in a new opera, marking the first major opera production about a transgender historical figure

Video of the opera, which premiered at Theater St. Gallen on 3 Decenmber, included.

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i had a whole big thing i was going to write up about transness and visibility and certain messily conflicted feelings of my own but the thing is i am Tired so instead i'm just going to say:

hi! i'm brin, and i've been Doing The Trans Thing for a while now (first came out in 2007, baybeeeeeeeeeeee). i write things, mainly music, sometimes words, and also Jewish liturgy

you can find my playful, dreamy clarinet sonata over on BandCamp, and i'm putting on a livestreamed reading of the first act of a new opera i'm working on in May. (if you have some extra money burning a hole in your pocket, you can also kick in to our crowdfunding campaign! we have some really fun rewards at various levels)

i have also written a trans, disability-centered, anti-Zionist siddur for Shabbat and Yom Tov. the digital versions are free, and all the text is in the public domain for you to reuse and rework to suit your needs. if you're sick of feeling like you have to choose between affirming Judaism and liturgical fullness, this may be a prayerbook for you! i'm deeply in love with the piyutim that get added to the Pésax liturgy, and they're coming up soon!

a whole bunch of people are spending a whole bunch of time, energy, and effort to try to erase people like me from any kind of life in this country as part of their broader annihilatory war on diversity of all kinds. i am not going to do their work for them. i'm still here. i'm still here. i'm still here

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Santa Fe Opera to Present 'Lili Elbe' with Lucia Lucas - OperaWire

On August 1, the Santa Fe Opera’s 2026 Season culminates with the American premiere of "Lili Elbe," a two-act opera based on the true story of Lili Elbe, one of the first individuals to undergo gender affirmation surgery in the early 20th century with the support of her wife, artist Gerda Wegener

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As One, an opera exploring trans identity, is deceptively artless

Laura Kaminsky's chamber opera features a transgender protagonist who is played by two singers

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Portland Opera presents ‘As One,’ a story about transitioning and ‘becoming one’s full self’

Laura Kaminsky's 2014 chamber opera is a sensitive, sometimes wrenching coming-of-age story about a person navigating the challenges of transitioning from man to woman