Melissa Dunphy and Composing Politics

In this episode about politics and political figures in opera, Keturah starts with an excerpt from her interview with Director, Daniel Kramer, about Pat Nixon’s aria in John Adams and Alice Goodman’s Nixon in China.

Daniel Kramer - http://danielkramerdirector.com/bio
Nixon in China (Opera) - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nixon-in-China
Nixon in China (History) - https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/china-visit/

Keturah’s next interview is with conductor, Steven Osgood.  They discuss one moment with Jackie Kennedy in the David T. Little and Royce Vavrek Opera, J.F.K.

Steven Osgood - http://www.srosgood.com/
J.F.K. (Opera) - https://www.altnyc.org/operas/jfk

Lastly, Keturah interviews Australian composer, Melissa Dunphy, about why she considers herself a “political composer,” and what it was like composing to actual hearing transcripts for her piece, The Gonzales Cantata, about George W. Bush’s disgraced attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.

Melissa Dunphy - https://www.melissadunphy.com/
The Gonzales Cantata - http://www.gonzalescantata.com/
Jacqueline Goldfinger - http://www.jacquelinegoldfinger.com/
William Butler Yeats - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-butler-yeats
Alberto Gonzales - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alberto-R-Gonzales
Arlen Specter - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arlen-Specter
Cantata - https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music