We are honored to welcome Veronica Chapman-Smith to the podcast today! Veronica is a Philly-based singer, who is a member of the Opera Philadelphia chorus and is also their Vice President of Community Initiatives. Veronica shares with us her thoughts on what building an equitable future in opera might look like.

(Please note: Veronica joins us on this episode in a personal capacity and not as a spokesperson for Opera Philadelphia.)

We discuss:

• Cultivating community by creating spaces of belonging
• The importance of self-reflection and awareness as a foundation when working for institutional change
• The challenges and the hopes as arts organizations work to be anti-racist and anti-oppressive.

This interview was incredibly thought provoking and we look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Resources mentioned on this episode:

“Reimagine the Opera Canon” Roundtable Discussions
#KikiKonversations by Karen Slack, Soprano
The Dallas Opera: Taking the Stage
Opera Theatre of St. Louis: Belonging in Opera
Opera America: Racial Justice Opera Network

Many thanks go out to our Season 3 sponsors:

The Empowered Musician – The Empowered Musician, founded by Dr. Dana Lynne Varga, helps musicians to forge their own path with pride. Through the Empowered Musician website you can read Dana’s articles, schedule one-on-one career coachings, book Dana for a speaking engagement, or sign up for upcoming classes.

Conduit Studios – Conduit Studios is a production company that specializes in high-quality video and audio capture for creatives. Run by musicians who understand your artistic needs. Enjoy a low-stress, relaxed environment to record in so you can focus on your art, they’ll take care of the rest!

The Sparkle Twins – Their custom face masks for singers are BACK IN STOCK, so be sure to order one today, and stay healthy in style!

And our affiliates:

The Opera Dolls – Opera Dolls are plush dolls that sing opera when you squeeze their bellies! If you’re tired of hearing wheels on the bus on repeat during this time at home, bring culture to your living room or online classroom and snag yourself an opera doll! Use the code OPERALIFE20 for 20% your order!

Singing Straw – The Singing Straw is an eco-friendly, helpful tool for your practice sessions. Use the code mysocalledoperalife10 for 10% off your order and to support the podcast!

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Comments, suggestions, or have a story to share? Reach out at info@mysocalledoperalife.com We’d love to hear from you!

Music from this episode: 

Basic Implosion and Thinking Music by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.com
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/