Soprano Aliana de la Guardia in a scene from an adaptation of Kaija Saariaho’s “Sept Papillons.” Jeffrey Means photography
Most musicians reluctantly adapted to virtual performances, after the pandemic shut down venues and opportunities. Aliana de la Guardia actually had some experience.
“We have always live-streamed,” the soprano says, referring to Guerilla Opera, the troupe she founded more than a decade ago. “It’s always been important to us.
“These virtual performances, and streaming platforms—it’s great that we have them,” she says. “This is something that’s going to continue, even after live performances return.”
The busy Guerilla Opera calendar reflects that commitment. Watch parties. “COVID Experiments.” Workshops on opera aesthetics, alternative production design, libretto writing. Live-stream events—like last week’s premiere of “Dreamwalker,” with works by Kaija Saariaho and Caroline Louise Miller. Speakeasies, with virtual exhibitions, videos and chats. A podcast series.
“We feel really confident that we can connect online with our community during Covid,” she says. “I feel like we’re reaching our core audience.”
The transition wasn’t as straightforward as de la Guardia makes it sound. After years of expanding Guerilla Opera’s reach, not only presenting premieres every season but actively encouraging new works and young composers, the troupe—co-directed by de la Guardia and Julia Noulin-Mérat—had to reset its ambitions when live performances were not possible.
Guerilla Opera spent its first 11 seasons as ensemble-in-residence at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, presenting new chamber operas like Ken Ueno’s “Gallo,” Hannah Lash’s “Beowulf,” Nicolas Vines’ “Loose, Wet, Perforated,” and Curtis Hughes’s “Say It Ain’t So, Joe.”
The productions were small, the audiences loyal but modest. And the energy was always palpable. The musicians confronted artistic challenges, forced out of their stand-and-sing comfort zones. In Ueno’s “Gallo,” for instance, the stage floor was covered in Cheerios. And audiences—sitting just inches away—appreciated that daring.
de la Guardia: “Performing for the camera is different,” she says. “Everything has to be so minimal.” Timothy Gurczak photography
“It’s not a ‘Close your eyes and listen’ experience,” de la Guardia says. “We engage the audience all the time.
“We’re an experimental theater troupe, not a regular opera company,” she says. “We don’t want to perform where people are removed from the action. The programs have very few musicians, and a small crew. That gives our productions an intimate feeling. We’re trying to stick with that.”
That intimate feeling gets magnified when working in front of a camera, preparing for live-streaming.
“Performance for a camera is different,” de la Guardia says. “We’re used to an audience that is very close up, so the transition is not that hard. But the design, the set, the costuming—everything goes through the camera.
“Your acting has to be so minimal. At one point Laine (director Laine Rettmer, who directed “Ofelia’s Life Dream” in the most recent Guerilla livestream) said, ‘Give me nothing. Don’t put anything on your face.’ It works like that. As we continued filming, I would get quieter and quieter.”
For the foreseeable future—at least until performances resume with some normalcy—Guerilla Opera will explore the many virtual means of reaching out. From her Haverhill home, de la Guardia also maintains an active teaching studio—“Zoom lessons on my phone all day,” she says, “until I’m completely Zoomed out.” She also plays an important role in the artistic rejuvenation of the town, as an advocate for public art.
“I moved here in 2011,” she says, “and it’s been great to see Haverhill revitalize itself. I love the idea of working with community partners. We’re kind of like a unicorn here—what Guerilla Opera does is a little bizarre, and won’t normally get outside of a big hub.”
Having the troupe commit to an active, enthusiastic schedule has helped keep the Guerilla team grounded and involved.
“Shortly after Covid hit we felt kind of lost,” de la Guardia says. “We started having ensemble meetings, and in those meetings we felt much more unified. We could brainstorm things out. This is how we got most of these ideas. Like Tae Kim (Guerilla’s pianist)—he became podcast moderator, and he’s been enjoying interacting with musicians on a different level than in rehearsal.
“We are doing this with minimal resources,” she says. “I don’t want to say that Guerilla is in the clear. There is a dubious funding situation. Maybe we will survive, and maybe we won’t want to do things on a shoestring.
“But Guerilla is our home,” she says. “Our players know we are going to do something interesting. It’s a unifying feeling, in this time. That’s what keeps us going.”
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.