This content was paid for by a sponsor. The LAist news team was not involved in its creation. Learn more about LAist's editorial guidelines.
Event Details:
Golda Zahra with The Dream Orchestra,
conducted by Maestro Daniel Suk
Satruday, July 13, 2024
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
BroadStage
1310 11th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
From opera classics by Verdi and Puccini to Broadway favorites from West Side Story, soprano Golda Zahra and The Dream Orchestra present a concert for all music lovers.
Golda Zahra’s love of opera started early. Growing up in Los Angeles, she started listening to and attending operas with her parents when she was 4 years old. She studied classical piano and musical theater, and by age 15, Golda was the winner of The Music Center’s prestigious Spotlight Award in classical voice.
After attending the Colburn School for performing arts in downtown L.A., Golda moved to Italy to study privately with opera masters like renowned soprano Barbara Frittoli. In 2020, she made her debut as Violetta Valéry in Verdi's opera La Traviata with Cantiere All'Opera in Padova.
On July 13, Golda returns to Los Angeles for a homecoming concert at the BroadStage in Santa Monica. Joined by The Dream Orchestra and maestro Daniel Suk, she will perform selections from beloved arias, Broadway musicals, and popular songs. It’s a full circle moment for Golda Zahra and Suk, who helped to foster Golda’s development as a performer at a young age.
Ahead of her show, Golda talked about her career and shared tips for how to learn about and appreciate opera.
What are your earliest memories of music and opera? What drew you to opera specifically at a young age?
When I was younger, I always heard my parents playing music in the home. I always enjoyed listening to it and singing along. At the age of 4, my parents started taking me to see different LA Opera productions at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and on every car ride back home, I used to sing away to my heart's desire. As a child I was drawn by the lavish costumes and the grandiose scenery on the operatic stage, and hoped someday that I too could be able to be a part of such a production.
How long have you known Daniel Suk? How did he help you develop as a performer when you were younger?
I have known Maestro Daniel Suk since I was 13 years old, hence we know each other now for more than a decade. One of his biggest strengths other than being a talented artist and conductor is his generosity with young performers. Since I was 13 he has always given me wonderful opportunities to perform with his orchestra, the Dream Orchestra, and he has always reached out to many children and teens with different projects such as youth orchestra concerts and collaborations with different high school choruses. He has always encouraged me in refining my craft and helped me experiment new repertoire being able to sing in different performances that for any young artist is certainly the most important thing to do if you want to help them grow and mature.
How has living in Italy impacted your opera training?
Living in Italy has indeed positively impacted my opera training. I have been very fortunate and am very grateful to have been able to study with the best of the best. For example, for the past two years I was blessed to be able to work in the private studio of Maestra Barbara Frittoli. Maestra Frittoli is probably one of the last best Italian sopranos of our generation and in my opinion she is one of the last true divas of the opera world. I am incredibly grateful to be able to have such a close relationship with her as a mentor and friend and to be able to have a master of her stature that believes in me.
What has it been like to live abroad? How is your Italian?
Living abroad has had its ups and downs, in the sense that it has been difficult being so far away from my family and from my friends, however it has also helped me learn who I really am and helped me mature to be the individual that I am today. My Italian is quite good, I am able to communicate well and even talk about politics, hence I am quite confident with my level of Italian.
If someone is interested or open to learning more about opera, but doesn’t know where to start or how to appreciate it, what do you recommend? Does it require a different mindset compared to experiencing other art forms?
I highly recommend anybody who wants to see an opera for the first time to go and see a comedic opera such as The Barber of Seville by Rossini or even an opera cycle such as The Trittico or Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci since they are shorter operas and they have ear-catching melodies. I don’t believe it requires a different mindset at all to appreciate opera or classical music. All music can be enjoyed by anyone, I just think that in order to excite the audience and welcome new opera lovers we as opera singers need to make opera more relatable and relevant by being more unique in the way that we perform and sing.
What can people expect from your upcoming show at the BroadStage? What are you excited about?
The audience of my upcoming show at the BroadStage can expect opera and classical music in a modern key. I will be singing classic melodies from traditional operas and revisiting them with my own interpretation, however I will also be singing musical theater pieces and a medley that crossovers both opera, musical theater and pop music. I am so excited to be able to show what I have been working at for quite some time to the L.A. audience and I really hope that I can be able to convert first time goers to classical music lovers and to be able to show others that opera can be relevant and loved by all people from all walks of life.
Are there any things you miss about Los Angeles? What do you like to do when you return to visit?
I truly miss L.A.’s weather, the laid-back tranquil way of us Angelenos. I love how in L.A. we have such a diverse community – one can truly meet many different types of people from all over the world and I really love seeing how all of these different cultures co-exist together and how we grow together as a community. Whenever I come back to L.A. I love to enjoy my family, my friends, and I love to go to eat all of the different cuisines that I can’t find in Italy. For example, I am half Iranian and I miss Persian food whenever I am in Italy. The first thing I do when I arrive in L.A. is to eat Persian food. I also love the many sushi restaurants and Thai restaurants we have in L.A.
Program:
Giuseppe Verdi, Overture from La Forza Del Destino
Giuseppe Verdi, “La Canzone del Salice” - ”Ave Maria” from Otello
G. Rossini, Overture from Barber of Seville
Claude Debussy, “Air de Lia” from L’Enfant Prodigue
U. Giordano, Intermezzo from Fedora
G. Puccini, Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta from La Rondine
INTERMISSION: 30 MIN - Dessert Reception in Lobby by Urth Caffé
G. Puccini, Manon Lescaut Intermezzo
G. Puccini, “Tanto Amore Segreto” from Turandot
L. Bernstein, West Side Story Overture
L. Bernstein, Somewhere/ West Side Story
L. Bernstein, I Feel Pretty / West Side Story
G. Rossini, Overture William Tell
Arr. HyunJong Lee, Medley - The Blessing, I Dreamed a Dream