Photo: Leah Podzimek (by Brett Fox from her website) | By Jason Blevins, Colorado Sun | Leah Podzimek, a Denver-based opera singer who is forging unique partnerships with other artists to create one-of-a-kind aural interactions that blend, for example, sculpture with operatic storytelling, says “opera is for everyone.”
“Society has gotten more and more, what’s the word I’m looking for, distracted. So it can be hard for people to simply sit and listen, especially if they don’t understand the language,” Podzimek says. “Giving people art they can see in front of them, that gives them another point of contact for the emotion the music is expressing.”
She is on a mission to make opera more accessible.
“I want to tear down those preconceptions about what a person believes opera is and what they have to be in order to enjoy it,” says the soprano singer. “If you can relate to a story being told, then opera is for you.”
Later this month at the Original Thinkers festival in Telluride, Podzimek will join several local artists in a blending of physical art and opera, hoping to connect new audiences to the resonant storytelling of opera.
“All you need to be is open and willing to experience something that is a little bit different and if we can bring that kind of openness to other parts of our lives, we can improve the quality of our lives and see across all sorts of cultural boundaries,” she says.
That’s pretty much the mission of Original Thinkers, which will host its fifth festival in Telluride Sept. 29-Oct. 2. Festival founder David Holbrooke gathers diverse artists, scientists, activists, authors and filmmakers to help expand perspectives around some heavy issues — like grief, climate change, holistic healing, cancer treatment and women’s rights — through storytelling.
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The Colorado Sun has been a sponsor of Original Thinkers since 2019.
Read the full article here:
https://coloradosun.com/2022/09/20/leah-podzimek-opera-original-thinkers-telluride/
[Thanks to Alex Teitz for contributing this article! http://www.femmusic.com]
Photo: Leah Podzimek – Photo by Brett Fox – from her website https://www.leahpodzimek.com/
How a Denver-based Singer is Trying to Connect New Audiences to Opera
