(people chattering) - We actually, we're okay on that.

Now let's just touch a little bit of the finale, okay?

(indistinct) I think I'm always worried because sometimes I forget after she goes (singing in foreign language).

That's right, then y'all can throw him something, that's right if you want to do it, come and do it right there.

So here's the key y'all got (plays piano).

Yes (plays piano).

One and two (plays piano).

(all singing) (woman singing opera music) - It's difficult to describe the Northern Lights Music Festival, but essentially it began as just a simple little idea about how could we do something that's kind of fun and benefit the little town a little bit that had fallen on some harder times.

And then it's grown into something much bigger that encompasses the entire Iron Range.

(opera music playing) - Yeah, I've been a part of this operas for years.

And I still run into people, "You doing opera?"

Yeah, it's crazy.

- It's an Italian opera in the middle of Minnesota.

It is a little weird, but it's also fascinating and it's fun.

- Big dream, small town right, that's a song or something (laughs).

- This is a very interesting question, should there be high art in small places?

Well, yeah, without question, there should be.

(opera music playing) (audience cheering) (Steve playing an accordion) - I live in Virginia, Minnesota, and I go by Steve Solkela.

Yeah, my career started out as a joke.

Now it's my career, It's still a joke though.

The one man band so... (playing an accordion) (soft music playing) - Welcome to the historic Colombo Hall.

People of Finnish American heritage and a lot of folks who married into Finnish heritage, they're welcome to join it, it's a great club.

♪ I'm a Finnish fellow from the Iron Range ♪ ♪ We want to travel the world where we haven't seen ♪ ♪ People on earth can be cold as ice ♪ ♪ But back home in our own Minnesota nice ♪ Now We got a gig later at the Colombo Hall, and that's my favorite in auditorium is "Singing On The Rain" (Steve singing) One day I picked up an accordion my granddad let me borrow, and I was just practicing in the parking lot.

I call it the starter rule, you gotta run through three songs before you start your car.

One thing led to another and started getting gigs, and apparently it's a career now.

(audience clapping) One more.

But I make a living doing this, and it's really weird going from a one man band to being a part of a huge opera.

I can't stress it enough how lucky I am.

(opera music) The Northern Lights Music Festival, it's a big music festival put on in Northern Minnesota.

And a lot of locals are part of the chorus and locals are part of the orchestra, and we bring in fantastic musicians from all over the place.

We do an opera and there's chamber music, so many moving parts, the fact that they pull it off is just miraculous.

That's off to Veda and how many people she knows, she's a staple of our community and we're really lucky to have her.

- My name is Veda Zuponcic, should be pronounced Veda Zuponcic.

But someplace between Ellis Island and Aurora got changed Zuponcic.

I'm a professor of music at Rowan University in New Jersey.

And I have a music festival in my hometown of Aurora, Minnesota called the Northern Lights Music Festival.

- Oh, mighty God, we are gathered here to honor the fallen dead.

All who paid with their lives from one of the many devilish ways that man has contrived to maim or kill his fellow man.

(guns firing) - I was born and raised in this town of Aurora, Minnesota.

When our grandparents came here, there were something like 40 different ethnicities, Italians, Slovenians, Serbs, Austrians, Germans, Finns, and they all came to work in the iron mines.

So this is my grandmother's Frances, born in 1873, died in 1951 on Christmas Eve.

So they came to the United States very early.

We're talking about 1895, maybe my grandfather's upon set came over.

Well, once they discovered iron ore up here, which was relatively late, let's say 1880 even.

Then they had to make a huge infrastructure and they needed people to do it.

They recruited in Europe and especially in places that had small mining industries already.

So you had a very interesting cosmopolitan, kind of a community growing up.

And they brought with them music culture, but that residual effect of having a respect for classical music and art goes back to our grandparents essentially.

And my mother passed away in 2013 and she's here also, I'm not gonna tell you who's behind that gravestone, but it's another family and apparently he murdered his wife (laughs).

And I don't think my mother want's particularly to be there, but that's old Aurora history, Old Aurora history.

I'm a very sentimental girl, I really love my ancestry.

And I love my family and I love these little towns and I liked where I grew up.

And so for me to have an opportunity to come back and do something here, it's just has been a remarkable opportunity for me.

(playing the piano) My festival in Northern Lights Music Festival started really back in 2003.

I was invited to come back and give a concert here.

And I thought, I am running a music camp for my pre college students in New Jersey.

Why don't I move it here and it would be so great, the restaurants could feed people and we could use the school.

And after two years of just running it as a little string and piano camp, someone said, "Wouldn't it be nice to do some vocal things?"

And then I said, "Well, you know, let's talk about this."

Opera is really expensive, but I can start with something simple, like Benjamin Britten's "Noah's Flood", which is a fabulous children's opera.

So we did that and the whole town was there, it was so exciting.

And it has captured the imagination of lots of people.

Opera is a big project that involves a lot of people, also in the community.

You need people to help with costumes, you need people to build the sets, you know, to sing in the chorus for example.

But to come to a small town and expect anybody to be interested in the opera and do it in a really cheap way is pointless.

So I think you need high production values and you need high performance levels.

So that means that you're bringing in hiring or engaging singers from all over the world in some cases.

The chorus is a little bit easier and we have local people sort of a standard group of people who like to sing these opera choruses.

And they start working in March or April learning their parts, and then of course we are able through the school to have attracted opera apprentices.

So we have graduate students and then you put them together and you get the chorus.

(people chattering) So that's how you go about that.

This summer's production, we needed to have a comedy.

And of course, when it's time for comedy, one looks to go see these.

So I thought, well, if we did the "Cinderella" in Italian is called "Cenerentola".

We could do that and sell some tickets, and secondly, our Opera Apprentice Program could do a cut down version of it.

We could adapt it into a one hour version for children.

And so we're marketing it for the children as "Cinderella".

- I am Levi it's a short for Leviathan.

My pronouns are he him and I am a student at Mesabi East.

The Iron Range is a small area in the...

It's a lot like, have you seen the movie "How To Train Your Dragons"?

It's a lot like Berk, 'cause it's in the middle of nowhere.

There's absolutely nothing, but there's everything at the same time.

(orchestra music playing) - People laugh when I say it, but it's a cosmopolitan place.

It was like the lower East side of New York dropped into the primeval forest.

- It's basically a giant campground.

(orchestra music playing) - Oh man, the Iron Range it's near and dear to my heart.

This used to be a huge hub during the World War 2, I think 75% of the iron ore used on the U.S side of it was from this county of Minnesota.

(orchestra music playing) - Well, the location of the Iron Range it's about 125 miles long in Northern Minnesota.

Yeah, it's a remarkable place, hardy people, where you have winter 10 months a year it seems.

- My most famous song I've ever written is "Iron Ore", that song is about everyone who came from somewhere else to try and make a better living in Minnesota for their family.

♪ Iron ore ♪ That's what brought us all here to Minnesota.

Let's review real quick, the words are iron ore, iron ore, iron ore. ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ We'll be back home in Finland ♪ ♪ Before the Russians would be back ♪ ♪ The great great grandad dream to freedom ♪ ♪ (indistinct) ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ ♪ Iron ore ♪ (laughs) that's a reggae version of "Iron Ore" folk saga.

- Now here's the auditorium.

There were auditoriums of this quality all the way across the Iron Range.

Every high school had a beautiful auditorium, but this was a small town, so of course it seeded 550 at the time.

So then of course the greatest sitting, which was Hibbing at the time had the greatest auditorium.

Chisholm has a very big auditorium.

Virginia has a marvelous auditorium, which I'm afraid they are going to demolish.

While the mining companies were making money hand over fist, if you can imagine Aurora probably had 2,500 people at the time, they built a million dollar school in 1920.

A million dollars in 1920 is a lot of money.

At a rural high school you can look out, through the lobby over to St. James Mine.

So the mining companies built these palaces, but most of the kids dropped out of school in the eighth grade.

So it's very bittersweet on the one hand that we had these great schools, but not everybody could go to them because they had work and support their families.

This is my favorite auditorium for chamber music.

Of course it's the dearest to my heart because my parents went to school here and my aunts and my uncles.

And so you feel everybody's DNA here, and I went to school here.

We are about three and a half weeks away from opening night, we'll be ready, we're always ready.

It's like when the curtain goes up, you're done.

Even though you might want to go back later and fix it.

- One, two, three, one, two, three (indistinct).

- We are at Mesabi East High School as a part of the Northern Lights Music Festival, indigenous youth arts camp.

- Can we go again, let's try the Italian words, if you forget the words, sing spaghetti, sing bravo, sing la la la.

- We were recruiting students from all across Northern Minnesota who had shown an interest in music.

And our young students who will be participating in our "Cenerentola" our "Cinderella" opera.

I'm Ryan Bajan, traditionally I'd say "Boozhoo Ryan indizhinikaaz."

I've been teaching about the Gymboree language and culture across Northern Minnesota for 13, 14 years.

Music's very important, so I'm working on, musicals, the opera.

I have a drum group I'm a part of right now called Night Sky, I've been a part of for almost 10 years.

(men playing drums) - In our opera chorus, was a marvelous fellow named Ryan Bajan, was a very fine singer, he and his wife, both.

And it turned out that he was able to put together a group of children who could come and be part of our music camp.

(speaking in foreign language) - [Man] Very good.

- We have some students that didn't quite know what they were getting themselves into.

We're teaching the fundamentals, you know, music theory, piano instruction.

These are things that aren't really taught on a daily basis in the schools.

(speaking in foreign language) - "Cenerentola".

- Do you like to sing and dance?

- No.

- No?

Can you pretend you like to sing and dance?

- So it's been a little intense I think.

(boys playing a drum) And then they're also getting that couple hours a day of traditional drum instruction.

So what did that mean when you're with that number, what does that mean?

Does that look like it...

It means tail yeah?

So at the end of the song, you guys can tell Jordan and I, we're talking the whole time with our heads, We're like pointing or we're telling each other, who's taking the next lead.

You'll see sometimes finger pointing or a finger down, meaning this one's mine.

The drum teachings that are happening this week, these are songs that are passed down from elder to boy over and over and over again.

Can't help, but do it, it's a part's a tradition that is so ingrained in our culture that it has to happen, prior to European arrival, there's been music here, I guess you could say it was the first music in Northern Minnesota.

And we are just taking a piece of that and just adding it to this camp to celebrate many types of classical music.

- So our conductor is on his way, I'm here for all of you.

Text me, that's the best way, call me, I probably won't answer.

Ah, here they come, okay.

This is Veda Zuponcic.

- Wonderful, wonderful.

- Very quickly, I'd like to introduce you Veda to our wonderful principal cast that's here right now.

We have Katie Henley, who'll be playing Clorinda, we've got Alyssa Martin, who'll be playing Cenerentola, I think.

We have Rafael Porto.

- I know Rafael Porto.

- Yeah, I know you know Rafael.

And then we have Cara Collins, who'll be playing Tisbe- - One is great, it's so great to see you.

- Norman and Gideon will come in later and Andrew will be here tomorrow.

All right and you know... Maestro- - Let me introduce Maestro.

- Yeah, here, hi.

- Whose right off a plane from Russia and drove two days across the country Gavriel Heine.

- Hi everybody.

Will see you.

(audience clapping) - Yes, well, let me explain my son.

- Hi, I'm Gavriel Heine.

I'm the music director of the Northern Lights Music Festival.

I'm also a resident conductor at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia.

- When I started this festival, I called the cheapest conductor I could find, my son.

Gavi would you come?

- I said well, okay, I'll try.

So I did.

- But he did.

And he, of course he likes being in Aurora, anyway he grew up here.

- I would come up here every summer to spend time with my grandparents, with my cousins, with my aunts and uncles, loads of family up here.

- So he understands the feeling of the Range very much.

- What we do here is we create a production from nothing but musically, artistically, what we're getting done here is extremely high level in many ways.

- Just so you know about it.

The tricky thing of "Cenerentola" is not to play it dumb, play the truth of the story, because you know, be really upset, be really pissed off, be really in love, be really excited, be really enjoying the situation, be really in love with the prince.

Come up here and I'll show you where the geography is, you can hear a little bit about it.

(opera music) Alidoro beginning to exit.

(opera music) Really good.

- Are we gonna... 'Cause we want to hit, where do we need to hit that.

- At the very end, so you never go back, Alidoro you hold the wall.

Now you can go as back as you know, basically like you're in a chair, do not go with her.

So if anything, just keep her going forward, because then you really can go.

Now you on the other hand, if I'm coming, coming, coming, back, back, back, back, back, back, go as close as you can here, and then, okay, turn around one, two, three, turn, turn, turn, right.

Geography clear?

- [Woman] Love it.

- Physically see how your body's work.

- Say (indistinct) can I sit on your knee?

- Yeah, yes.

- Thank you.

- Okay.

(all speaking in foreign language) - That's it, okay, good.

- I'm Katherine Henley, and I am playing Clorinda.

Well, right now we're in Rudy's and I'm very excited about it.

We have this lovely pool table, we have some great scenery.

This guy, everyone's about to have a great meal, with some of our principals and our team.

So today was our first day and we're just really excited, and I can't believe that we get to do this for three more weeks, it's gonna be great.

(people chattering) - The festival is spread out all over the Range.

A lot of things are gonna be in Aurora, we're doing a lot of our rehearsals here in Chisholm.

You know, first day was in Aurora, it's a smaller space and Chisholm is a much bigger theater, but we don't actually get to do the show here.

It seems like it's different this year.

You know, we're trying to fill it out with everything reopening after COVID.

I'm Andrew Allen Hiers, bass baritone from Florida.

So up here in Minnesota, it's a different...

I could only come here in the summer doing Don Magnifico in "La Cenerentola".

- I don't think I check your costume, I don't think you have a cap.

- Damn.

- But could be your coat?

- Yeah, I'll be fine.

- We do all of the work we need to do of learning our rhythms, learning our pitches, knowing what we're saying before I come to rehearsals.

When you have things like pattern, where you're saying (speaking in foreign language) You just have to run that every day.

So I know the words, but you gotta keep it on your mouth and keep it spontaneous.

(man singing in foreign language) (woman laughing) - Do you remember this?

- [Woman] Not yet.

(people chattering) (footsteps pattering) - [Chia] Thank you.

- No (speaking in foreign language).

- This is what I have.

- No, I have, this is a different score.

(singing in foreign language) - Okay, it works.

- Yeah.

- Everyone has the other.

- Right, I'm I correct?

- Yeah.

- So you have this (speaking in foreign language).

(people chattering) - Do you know what's going on?

- No, I have no idea.

- [Woman] You are like, oh, I have to- - So both of the eyes lines are to her, okay.

- And then like, like Rossini wrote it?

- Yeah.

I do remember- - And then?

- I'm sure he was right, but I didn't know it.

(all laughing) - I mean, I think Rossini's fascinating, I like weirdly actually know a lot about this.

And most of the repertoire that I sing is Rossini.

So I auditioned with this for a very, very long time, when I was in my early twenties, this role has been a big part of my life for a long time.

(all singing in foreign language) And so he just has this like very interesting life, he was such a rock star of his time, like nobody made more money than Rossini.

What's a little different about this one is, in the Disney we see like the bibidy babidy boom moment, and she'd already have the magic, she turns into whatever.

In the text there's nothing really over, we magical is a true bracelet instead of a lost shoe.

So some of those little elements are different, you won't see a stepmother, you'll see a stepfather.

You'll see a fairy godfather, that's a little different, not quite as magical as the one that we're used to maybe.

- My name is Rafael Porto, I'm a bass-baritone, and I am Alidoro in this production of "Cenerentola".

It's a lot of fun because he's one of the few roles that has a little bit of that kind of magic.

I'm super happy to say that this is my third time back at Northern Lights in the Iron Range.

I'm currently based in Indianapolis, before I've been living in Miami.

And so the Iron Range is very different from both of those places for sure.

The root beer thing is very funny, like everybody's loves to push on root beer, and I think the accents are always fun too.

- Ooh.

- Definitely good (laughs).

- That's good stuff.

- Right.

- Enough about it so don't worry.

- Yeah I know.

- I wish I could just go back to Italy in 1730, there'd be like an opera in three acts and it'd be a serious, dramatic opera.

And then in between they'd have an intermezzo, which is usually a comic opera.

This is vague, but historically accurate.

A musical and an opera are similar, the main difference is history.

In musicals they have mics, before microphones are invented, they had what's called bel canto singing, which bel canto in Italian means beautiful singing.

But it was a technique where all day in monastery or in the Vatican and stuff, they would sit there and train singers to be able to belt and sing super loud because they didn't have microphones.

They call it the passaggio, which is a part of your voice where you can ring really loud and there's lots of different vocal techniques.

My favorite one is called the sing oh, technique, where you find the location in your pallets ♪ Finland ♪ Right there where there's a vibration (humming).

That's where you want your singing to be located, it might be hard to visualize.

That's in a proper location and you want a nice dropped jaw, and when you are a trained singer and you go to someplace where the acoustics are meant for singing, it blows your mind, just how lively the voices.

- Before I knew Steve Solkela, I heard Steve Solkela.

- I got asked to help build the set and painted for the opera and stuff.

- All of a sudden we heard some kids coming towards us, some high school kids and this incredibly low, low bass voice with this gigantic Finnish accent.

- I don't think I got too big of an accent, I think it's more of a Minnesota accent with a little Finnish pepper in the mix.

- And I said, "I need you in the chorus."

And so he was active in our educational program.

- We're here at the closing concert of the Northern Lights Music Festival.

Year is 2014 and it's July 19th (laughs).

Hi, future Steven.

Yeah, this story is kind of funny 'cause I wanted to be a marine, which I think like a lot of people in high school, I was a moody, moody pain in the neck and I just wanted to go and die.

I was sick of life, I hated just about everything.

And I think Veda heard the rumor I was gonna be a marine and she was like, "I think you should go to a music college for opera."

(Veda playing a piano) Veda was something else, 'cause I only knew her as like a legendary piano player.

She had that side to her of I've traveled the world, but it was all of a more, an invitation.

Like I wanted to invite me, I guess, to see more of the world that I felt and she even bought me a plane ticket to audition for college.

So I don't think I'm too far off the mark saying, she believed in me more than myself.

I owe a lot to Veda, she's the only reason I went to college and probably the only reason I wasn't into trouble a lot when I was a kid.

- It's gratifying that I was somewhat instrumental in helping him find a path.

And now he's back on the Range, doing all manner of things.

(Steve playing an accordion) (soft music) - And going from realistic to surreal, to we're eating dinner, but we're really having a nightmare.

I think there's a moment of freaking out of everyone, it's the feeling that everything that's happening is going wrong.

- I often feel like everything is going wrong when I sing.

So this is gonna be very easy.

I am Dandini, well, my role is Dandini.

Maybe I am him, I'm Gideon Dabi and I'm playing Dandini who was really the prince's servant.

People when they ask me, well what do you do?

And I say, well, I'm an opera singer.

Oh I've never been, what do I do?

You go to the opera and you have a good time.

You know, like nobody says, oh, I've never seen a movie, what do I do, what do I wear?

But when they come to the opera, they say, I don't speak the language, what do I wear, can I cheer, can I make a noise?

I would love to break that wall down and make it easier for people.

Opera is for everyone and I'm a fanatic about that, it should be for everyone.

(soft music) - Good evening and welcome to our festival chorus, what I noticed last night was that you make a great deal of sound for a tiny chorus.

(people singing in a foreign language) - We have the chorus who's rehearsing as a chorus.

We never get to hear the leads, we don't know the parts well, because we're just kind of thrown in at different intervals.

(people singing in foreign language) And then we culminate to right there where we get to meet the cast for the first time and actually do some staging with the cast for the first time.

- Oh, hey there.

Hi Ryan, I think he's gonna need to be Ryan.

- Yeah.

- But just for.

- Yeah, I'm too good looking.

(people laughing) No.

- He's my size.

- Oh I see.

- [Man] It's really cool, you know what I mean?

We're working with professionals, we're working with professionals who have performed all over the world.

With a maestro who is world renown.

I mean just the caliber of talent and experience that's on stage with you.

That definitely is overwhelming at times.

(all singing opera music) - Mr.

Courtier.

Is the chorus gonna be sing this finale?

- Yes.

- Are they ready to sing?

- I think they are.

I think there's just a confusion of what we're doing.

- I'm set.

- But they certainly know it.

- Okay, excellent, thanks.

Okay, thanks.

(all singing opera music) (orchestra music playing) - When we started doing bigger operas, we don't have the money first of all, to rent sets, they're very expensive.

But I thought it would be nice if we could do it locally.

- Well, I'm Alvin Rintala and I'm here to construct the set for the Northern Lights Music Festival.

- He's half Croatian and half Finn.

His father was a mason, built probably half of the chimneys in this town.

- Yes, I've lived in Aurora all my life.

So I had worked for Veda in her home, remodeling her home and somehow or another, I was volunteered to work on the set (laughs).

- He likes to be involved in the opera.

- So Sam, this is the center line where it gets cut and broke.

- [Sam] Cool.

- Right, 'cause then it'll just fit the door and it be great.

As he pointed out, I did my math, it is the width of a one by four.

- And Minnesota public radio.

I think Saturday afternoons, they have the operas and I would listen to the operas, on the radio in my workshop, or in one of the halls.

It's one thing to listen to an opera and to actually see a live performance, is a total different experience.

There's a certain sense of satisfaction that you're involved in, something like that, yeah.

- They needed someone creative to help paint sense.

I did not expect to be working in carpentry, sewing, makeup.

I didn't expect it to be everything.

One thing that I'm very thankful for, especially considering this as my first job is that it's a really positive work environment.

Like every person, like has asked me my pronouns because I'm not a such gender individual.

I am addressed by the proper name, I'm treated like a person and that's a refreshing thing.

I definitely I'm glad that I grew up here, but the world is huge.

I'm enjoying this, it's a lot of fun to work in theater though, knowing me, will probably end up doing something completely different.

- I've got a lot of big dreams, if I had to narrow it down to a couple of things I want to accomplish in my life, I definitely want to get one of my operas published.

I don't think Veda has heard at all that I've been working on, like three or four different operas.

But yeah, that is a dream of mine.

One's about zombie apocalypse, one's about a baker and how the figurines and the wedding cake come alive at night.

The third one is not so much of a comical opera, but it's about a guy who gets hit in the head really hard.

And in his concussed state, he's a success in music.

But when he wakes up he realizes he lives in a storage unit and he doesn't get many accordion gigs.

You know opera is a lot easier than it seems, I could teach you how to do it in five minutes, you just kinda gotta imagine all the different parts.

You know the singer (Steve playing a piano) and what the cellos are doing (Steve playing a piano) and violas and second violin is (Steve playing a piano).

And just all these different parts that go on.

You know what music, composers might try to make it as complex as possible, but every music is a scale (Steve playing a piano) and you got chords (Steve playing a piano).

And that song is going to my opera, is probably one of the most simple songs.

It's just a real, simple descending triads (Steve playing a piano).

And once it's in the orchestra, you'll have all the more complex things that are going on in my mind.

But for now it's just the bass parts and the melody that the singer will sing for now.

(Steve playing a piano) ♪ Oh my dreams and my desires ♪ ♪ All our angels they're alive ♪ ♪ Can I leave this place ♪ ♪ If you heavy on my mind ♪ ♪ And I find that it gets me every time ♪ ♪ Same as yesterday we'll be okay ♪ And yeah, still working on the words, but hey, I ain't no way a soap opera composer it's really tough what they do.

But if you could simplify it, like I always say, life is one measure at a time.

(birds chirping) - Yeah, today we are at the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge here in McGregor, Minnesota.

We had students from the region come in and learn how to make our wild rice push poles.

The poles we use when we harvest wild rice.

So the person who's operating the push pole is the one moving the boat.

And then there's a person in front of him that's gathering the rice by knocking it into the canoe with knocking sticks, cedar knocking sticks.

(drilling machine whirring) Okay.

Rice beds are thick, so you can't just use a paddle, you have to have this pole, that's lightweight, that's straight that's long enough.

And we took a piece of maple, I wired it out a maple like a fork.

And that's what really gives you leverage on the rice bank to move... Let's hope I'll be here for a while okay?

- All right, thank you.

- I am getting ready for an opera, I know, right?

This is quite the diversion, but you know, we're doing this kind of thing.

I'm doing my thing during the day and then in the evenings, we're rehearsing.

(woman playing a piano) - That's it, I'll give you one.

One, two.

- Yeah, it is an interesting contrast, So I go from speaking gymboree during my day today to singing Italian tonight.

We can be diverse people, we can have interest in many things and you know what I was doing today, which is what I typically do during the school year, I do it because I love to do it.

And when you see young people learning these ancient traditions, that have been shared with me, it's just really magical.

Next week we will be doing yup, four days of performances, so we're very close.

(soft music) - So cute.

- Yeah, I'm Cara Collins and I am playing Tisbe, one of the ugly step-sisters (laughs).

So I just had my costume fitting today and the first one needs some adjustments, and so we're doing that.

Add a little butt pad.

A lopsided butt (laughs).

It's always a treat to see the other side of it, because costume is like a very important aspect of making the opera come to life.

- Try singing now.

- Okay.

(singing opera music) I think that's okay.

- That's okay too?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- I think I can make it work, the more space you can give me, the better.

- I just don't want it to look garish and out of place, so- - Okay.

Although if anyone on the show can look garish, that's life.

- I know.

So we will make a bow back here and then that'll just allow you to breathe and sing.

- That sounds great, I love breathing (laughs).

- It's not really an option.

- I sound fantastic.

- Okay.

- Hello.

- Hello.

- How's it going?

Can I see the other dresses?

This one doesn't doesn't drive me crazy.

It's very subdued for her to impress the whole damn party you know.

- Where do you see the wig.

- Oh it's not the dress, she is some woman in it- - Some woman in it and the wig.

- That's what I know (laughs).

- You want it in diamonds and glitter.

- Yeah.

- And we'll do our best (laughs).

- All right, I got most of it, the Goodwill here.

- Goodwill?

- Yeah.

- I'll go with you.

- All right, would you like to stay in the costume all day?

- Yeah, let's go, let's do it right.

(all singing opera music) - Okay, orchestra too brutal, too brutal.

- This was our first time that we sang with the orchestra, and the orchestra the first time they played together was yesterday.

(woman singing opera music) - Resolve with her.

(all singing opera music) - Dude, yesterday was like a blur.

- I'm sure.

- It was just crazy because we got from basically the whole opera.

Three, four.

(orchestra playing music) Okay, thanks.

Second of all is, I need a little bit more active gallop.

It has to be a little bit more, more, you know... Like at the last hour is a slog and everybody was just dead cross-eyed and whatever.

(orchestra playing music) That's just always kind of amazes me just because it really is this kind of...

It takes a village thing where especially here, people are coming sometimes from Minneapolis and this, and it really is, it's not an ensemble that regularly plays together.

(orchestra playing music) - That wasn't together, one more time please?

(orchestra playing music) I love the feeling of theater, of life here.

It's always a great thing to create something alive, to create something new, so you have to bring it to life, you have to bring the score to life.

How do you do that?

There's a baton, one, two, three, four, or one, two, three, four, five, six, whatever it is.

You show people the speed in which things are supposed to move, but you don't only show the speed, you show the direction where the phrase is going.

You treat music like a material, like it weighs a certain amount of grams in your hand.

You move it from one place to another, something physical.

Physically, you take the sound and you put it there.

Sometimes musicians are not ready for that kind of wordless communication, so you stop and you explain.

These, eighth notes should not be breathless, breathless, they should not be breathless.

Otherwise there's no stability in the orchestra, okay?

So that's what we do, and that's...

There's a lot of joy in that for me.

(orchestra playing music) - That's for this one particular scene, it's a storm in the opera, where they're playing different elements of the storm.

You know, rain, the sounds, wind.

(suspenseful music playing) - [Man] Wait a minute, wait a minute.

- [Chia] Look at where the rain is, look at your painting.

Oh, turn it around (laughs).

Now you're thunder.

- When we bring the youth, and we bring the families in, and you never know what's gonna happen.

Out of this week, we might have students who pursue degrees in music and are performing in the festival as apprentices and you know, down the road as they get older.

- [Man] Okey smokey.

- [Woman] We're ready, standing by.

(all singing opera music) - So basically when you're in an opera, you're expected to memorize every single thing that you're supposed to say.

I do my best, I always make little cue cards because I don't speak Italian at all, you're kidding me.

Tonight, this is, I believe one of our, I think they're calling this a tech rehearsal sliding, takes two years is left till opening night.

So for this, I'm gonna have him right off stage and I'm gonna review it right before I go on, and I'm gonna hope for the best.

- So, guys, now Dandini, Magnifico step out of the carriage.

So, when you guys walk in, give me your name.

- Carl.

- And.

- Evan.

- Evan?

- Yeah.

- Okay, so you guys leave this space open.

- Okay.

- So when everybody walks into the room, you close in as much as you can.

Gavi can we have big rehearsal 57 is when the carriage enters.

- So this is (speaking in foreign language) is this correct?

(people chattering) Okay, yeah, I have a feeling I know where that is.

- I'm sorry Chia, we have to start, the tech rehearsal.

- We're teching.

- The designers need to see the show from beginning to end.

- We are teching.

- The designers need to see the show from beginning to end.

- Peter, what the hell do you think we're doing?

- We're out at 10:30, it's 8:48.

- Peter please stay away.

Going back, this is the first time I see the horses, this is called teching as far as I'm concerned.

- [Peter] The designers need to see the show so they can rehearse the changes.

- Get up.

- I apologize Chia, but we're not gonna have time to practice our shifts properly, if we don't have time to practice them.

I'm trying to be as respectful of the process as I can, and I understand we need to get these horses right, but we also need to practice our scene changes.

- They have never seen the horse.

Okay, we were gonna start there, picking up with the horses so that they can tech.

- Okay.

- And then we move on, everything else has been done.

- Great.

- Yes, are we clear on that?

- Yes.

- So please, don't tell me how to tech.

- I was responding to my designer's needs Chia, that is my job.

- There is now way I can throw this and make it safe.

- Fine, keep finishing the rehearsal.

- Well, I don't tend to sugar coat much, I think we're a little behind schedule where we wanna be, but I've been in enough operas to know that it's gonna be like magic come together.

(opera music playing) - Guys (beeps) are you (beep) serious?

- [Man] What happened?

- It's just that it's rolling off with me.

- [Man] No brakes on it?

- Nope.

- [Man] Brakes are coming tomorrow.

- Well, we're using it today.

- That should be communicated.

So, from our understanding, we weren't having people on that.

So that's- - Oh, so sorry, I would love to be told that if I don't need to touch something- - So that's our bad.

This will definitely have breaks.

- Okay.

- If we need to pop wedges on this.

- Okay sure.

- And other sides.

- Sure.

- So, you'll be safe no matter what.

- Awesome.

- So if you're standing on that, I'll get you one.

- Great, thank you very much, I appreciate it.

- If you got to the pit, I would probably eventually catch you.

- Would you catch me if I start rolling all the way down stage?

- Yeah.

- I'll appreciate it Gavi, I really would, I really would.

(both singing opera music) That's what I'm gonna do.

- You guys run this or I do.

You wanna tech, have a tech.

I don't know what else to do, tell me what to do to please.

- Doesn't this shift have to happen before the horses.

- Do you have that in your notes?

- Yes.

- Let's go do it as you're at it.

- I mean, you know, we're getting hand in, it's rushed, I mean, we've got a short amount of time or we're trying to put together and it's better to have little hiccups now, and then you're aware of them the next time.

(people chattering) - I think opera always is a little bit of a race against time.

We have to come together as a little mini family, and I think that's always one of my favorite parts of opera, is just that kind of togetherness and cooperation that really to just have a cool production.

- Where are you from?

- I'm from Texas.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

- I've gigged in Waco, Dallas- - No way.

- In Fort Worth, I love that state too.

- Oh my God.

- Welcome to Minnesota, I wish I could have you over for a salmon tonight.

- Oh, yes.

- But there's not a chance with time schedule now.

- No, it's tough.

- It feels like tech week, still two weeks away.

So I'm a little concerned about that.

(all laughing) - We're all in that same boat.

but it always, you know, the little Iron Range miracle happens.

Steve Solkela was one of the first people I think I ever met my first time coming here.

And I am for sure, a cheerleader here for Steve Solkela, he is just so much fun.

- And always, all my friends would tease me.

Someday, you'll be singing to more than just your cows (mooing).

They do a very steady ostinato on a load, no F sharps (mooing).

But yeah, usually when I meet these fancy, I call them big shots, I don't know if they like that or not.

It's usually culture shock from both parties, some of them have asked for tips and stuff, but for the most part, they're usually infatuated with the accordionist, so.

- Yeah, it sounds like you're working outside that.

- Yeah, you need to see his one man band thing.

- I wanna see it.

- Literally- - Yeah, we're all over the YouTube.

- Had you ever been to New Jersey before you suddenly went there and it was- - Never.

- Oh my gosh, it's so different from Minnesota.

- I don't think I've even, into Wisconsin before (indistinct).

- Really?

- Yeah.

I didn't travel much until I was older.

- For me, he's kind of this like ideal kind of Iron Range person where he just has such a good energy about him.

He is just a ball of energy, he has a way of talking and it's like, I wish I had that bass voice and I'm a bass-baritone, I do this.

- That's right, how's your Finnish been going, I know you've been working and learning.

- I'm pretty close to fluent.

- Good.

- Yeah I speak Finnish.

- Do you really?

(Steve speaking in Finnish) Wait, how do you speak Finnish, did you study it in school?

- Our grandma spoke a little bit, but I learned it.

- No, but it's cool they kept like- - The hardest part about Finish is knowing when to start buddy.

- You're right (laughs).

- [Woman] That's terrible.

- Tonight about six O'clock, it's our final dress rehearsal for the opera.

So about 5:30, everyone will be getting in their costumes and their wigs and New Yorkers dress is gonna be here tonight.

We'll see where we get by the end of tonight, either way show is booked for tomorrow, that's where it'll go.

(people chattering) - There's something about putting on a costume and then makeup and going out there, I'm gonna have a wig on, you really get in gear.

You're like, okay, this is for real, I need to be on game.

(people chattering) - Right.

- Let me make sure everybody's placed back here.

- Sounds good.

- Thank you.

- Princess.

(footsteps pattering) (Steve whistling) (orchestra playing music) - Oh yeah, there we got at least wonder as we rehearse as we seem like a week behind schedule.

- Okay, that's my call and I have to be backstage.

- Good.

(orchestra playing music) - Too loud.

Short, short.

(orchestra playing music) The first four or five numbers were just a nightmare.

- The orchestra is getting timed in, to a small space, so that they're a little loud.

- Way too loud, and when I say, come on, I don't mean play three times as loud.

I mean, get with the tempo.

For the space, it was just too much for the singers, they were covering the singers completely.

They strain, (Rafael singing opera music) to try to beat the orchestra, to make sure that they're heard, which you don't want a singer ever to have to strain their voice.

It's got to be light and active, you can't sleep in here and you gotta listen to the stage.

And you know, if you're playing so loud that you can't hear, maybe you shouldn't be playing so loud.

If you can't hear whom you are accompanying, why are you playing like that?

Come on, you like the balance?

I don't, come on guys.

(all singing opera music) - All performers, all chorus members, stage crew and everything, we're getting there today.

I think there's a lot of good energy that's coming about, and especially after COVID, this is amazing in the sense that we get to go on stage and people are gonna be in the audience, like we get to be performers again, and so I was really looking forward to that.

I'm pretty sure the community is looking forward to it as well.

- Oh yeah.

And sometimes you have to go through something that's not good, and just so you're like, you know what, let's pick ourselves up, let's go, like, we're gonna put on a good show.

(dramatic music) (audience clapping) - Okay, so every time, I say (hisses) which I hate to do, it's such an ugly sound (hisses).

But you understood at least, and then it went to a good balance.

So unfortunately, you're gonna have to have this (hisses) in your head tomorrow, okay?

So, wonderful.

Thank you all very, very much.

- [Woman] So tomorrow at 3:30 is- - Tomorrow 3:30, at the (indistinct) yeah.

Chorus, chorus, chorus, chorus, chorus!

Hi chorus, you guys are wonderful.

I wanna ask you a favor, it's a little bit gonna be contrary to what you feel, when I'm doing this with the orchestra and I'm doing (hisses) that doesn't mean you guys.

(hisses) You know what I mean?

Did it seem doable in in these tempos tonight?

- Yeah.

- You don't have to say yes if you don't mean it.

- No, I do mean it.

- Okay, cool.

- Yeah.

- Okay, cool.

All right, good, then more or less, that's gonna be the thing.

- Okay.

- Thank you.

Great opener.

- Really you're tremendous, you're tremendous.

And I'm... (woman singing opera music) Okay.

- Practice makes perfect.

- It does.

(woman singing opera music) It was a little stressful, but that is kind of normal.

So we had to just like solve problems on the spot, but we did it, we still got through it, so like that's pretty good, that means we can probably open, you know.

(skateboard tires humming) - I don't know why opera isn't like a household thing, it is for me (laughs).

Not my family though, my own family was like, do you care if we don't go, opera's not really our bag, like so much goes into it and if we don't get attendance, it's really disheartening.

(people chattering) - Actually, I wondered whether we'd see a ton of people, I mean, ticket sales were low going into tonight.

- You know, I'm pacing a little bit because I'm hoping that we'll have a very good audience.

So I just have to walk over here to the window and we can look all the way down the street and see if people are still trying to park or if they're over in that lot, and you can tell how many people are still coming.

- Yeah, it's ready.

Shows completely on its feet and you know, good or bad, it's gonna be what it's gonna be.

Steve.

- Hey.

- How's the going man?

- Pretty good.

- Are you excited?

- I'm stoked.

- So good to see you.

- My girlfriend is in the house tonight.

- She is?

- I want you to really bring your A-game tonight.

- Are you sure?

- Make it feel like it's fresh.

- (laughs) Are you joking man?

- I will never joke about that Steve.

- When I think about all of the social ills that we have, I keep saying, where does one go as a community, where to share something, that's becoming a big problem in the United States I think in my kind of peculiar Iron Range ethos, I like that blue collar workers and miners and electricians and doctors and lawyers and CEOs all sit in the same building, I like that very much.

(people chattering) - So for opening night, everyone has their own routine of what they're gonna do.

Some people like to really just take it easy, have a nice light meal.

- Some people get nervous, some people get like nervous reflux.

- You really should avoid gas station sushi before a Show.

- You know, some people get the nervous poops and Andrew just took care of his, I'm next in line and it's a real thing, and anybody that says it's not, is lying.

So no.

- There you go.

- There we go.

(all laughing) Please don't be here when I come out enough (laughs).

(Rafael clears throat) (Rafael shuts the door) (bright music) (Rafael opens the door) (all laughing) I hate you guys, I hate you.

We're gonna go to the dressing room here.

- Now six minutes, I'm gonna ask the women to come out.

- Yeah.

(people chattering) - Gotta go around.

Thank for the opera-tunity.

(people chattering) Show time, break legs.

(audience clapping) - And a nice turnout, we had the most amount of people we've actually had at a show in a very long time.

(all singing opera music) - I was like really calm as we drove to the theater, to the high school, and I thought, okay, it's gonna be fine, it's gonna be great and then right before I had to sing, I was like, "Oh my gosh, we're doing a show."

(all singing opera music) - For the first act is actually better than I expected, so this was actually great.

- This is my 10th opera, keeps me young.

- So far I think this opera's, nailed it, knocked it over the park, we've got a good crowd and that when the energy hits you just can't even describe it, it's like getting waffles in the morning and you didn't make them.

(all singing opera music) - It was so exciting, I didn't know what to expect, and I've never been in the Iron Range before, and it's just an incredible community up here.

It's wild, it blew my mind and the fact that they love opera and they're cheering and they're laughing.

(man singing opera music) - Iron Range audiences are the best audiences, like they were just so enthusiastic.

- A packed house that was very responsive to everything, and it was just a lot of fun.

I feel very good about what we did.

(Alyssa singing opera music) (audience cheering) - Yeah, we did it!

- I think it's up to us as professional musicians, if we can, do bring great art that has lasting, historical value to our communities as we can, as we can.

I mean, somebody else perhaps could do this job much better than I, no question about it.

But on the other hand, they're not here, so it's up to me because I had the idea to do it and now well, somebody else is gonna have to continue it, but it's the same everywhere.

There has to be somebody with an idea and make it happen, you know, make it happen.

♪ Oh keep your heart enclosed ♪ ♪ So I won't fall back never seen enough ♪ ♪ When I see your earthly eyes ♪ ♪ I know your hands are still softer than the dove ♪ ♪ And I find every time somehow you'll be in my heart ♪ ♪ Same as yesterday we'll be okay ♪ ♪ All our dreams and my desires ♪ ♪ All our angels they're alive ♪ ♪ When I leave this place ♪ ♪ Will you help me on my mind ♪ ♪ I find every time ♪ ♪ It gets me every time ♪ ♪ You know laughter loves the catastrophe ♪