Meet Sasha Gutiérrez | Opera Singer & Impresaria

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sasha Gutiérrez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sasha, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

I wish I could say I thought about it thoroughly and that I knew exactly what I was doing, but that’s not the case. Believe it or not, I never meant to create an opera company. It started out as a project to fill in a gap that was left in the opera world when theaters and other venues were shut down due to the pandemic. I am an opera singer, and as an artist I needed to find spaces where I could create my art. I knew that was the case for many of my colleagues, as well. After around three months of lockdown, in the summer of 2020, my partner, a drummer and percussionist, and I started a series of stoop concerts on our block in Brooklyn. We worked with what we had, performing on our stoop and mixing genres from jazz to opera to Cuban rumba…anything we had access to. Our first time playing wasn’t even announced, we thought of it mostly as a safe space for us to do what we do, but we noticed our neighbors would hang out on their stoops, open their windows to listen from a safe distance, enjoying the music. Safe to say we didn’t realize that by creating a space for ourselves to be able to perform, we were also bringing back some hope and joy to the community. As weeks went by and we continued to do more concerts, more people gathered and sometimes they would even come from other parts of the city. We started noticing that whenever I sung an opera aria, people would listen attentively, almost as if they had never experienced it. Eventually, we realized that people were curious about learning more about opera and by the end of that summer, we had an idea: Why not put on a full opera on the stoops of our block?

This first thought was the pivot moment that changed everything for me. As a performer, I had never been on the other side of things. I had no formal training as to how to put a production together and it was an immense personal challenge. However, because I had been part of opera productions before, I decided to look back and remember the process and slowly make sense as to how to begin putting an opera together. I chose to perform an opera I knew very well, which was Mozart’s “Così fan tutte”. I had had the opportunity to perform this piece before, so I knew it well enough to take the lead in making it happen. I reached out to colleagues, put together a production team, a chamber orchestra, and created a social media presence for the project, but something was missing. During pre-production, we realized the benefits of having an official entity with a mission that could represent the project in order to have a successful production. It was then when The Opera Next Door was born.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I fell in love with singing at a very young age. I remember when I realized that it was something that came naturally to me, and, in a way it became my armor. There’s a memory I will never forget: When I was a kid, I used to be bullied in school. I was the new, awkward, chubby girl and I will never forget how the bullying stopped once my bullies realized I could sing. Sometimes the same people that used to bully me would ask me to sing a song. I couldn’t understand it then but having a voice was my super power. I joined the school choir and continued singing through my high school years. At around fourteen, I had the opportunity to perform in an opera choir for a university production for the first time. It was such an exciting thing for me to dress up and sing. I wouldn’t say I was immediately smitten with opera, but I recall one time when we were singing and the singer next to me looked me in the eyes and said “you can really sing this!” I like to think that I didn’t choose opera, but opera chose me.

I can’t exactly be brief about how I’ve gotten where I am now, but let me start by stating the fact that it hasn’t been easy. However, easy is not what you sign up for when you dedicate your life to art. I decided to study music and classical voice after graduating from high school. I had never had formal training in music nor had a voice lesson in my life, but I knew in my heart that it was what I was meant to do. I had a few challenging years at the beginning of my studies. I did not know the fundamentals of music, so it was a rough start. However, I was learning so much about my voice and how to use it that I felt everything was worth it. Once I graduated from my undergrad, I had the chance to work as a young artist with the Bogotá Philharmonic. Oh yes, I was born in Cali, Colombia and by this point in life I had moved to Bogotá. I knew that if I wanted to keep growing as an artist, I had to find other places that would nurture that growth. That’s when I decided to apply to my Masters abroad. After a very long process of auditions, scholarship and visa applications, I ended up in NYC at the Manhattan School of Music.

The challenges I’ve faced throughout my career are many. The opera world is a tough industry. It challenges you to develop many tools in order to stay in it. It is an astonishing art form that requires a village to achieve. But for the artists, once you enter this world, your voice is no longer just your armor, it also becomes your weapon. It can feel heartless and many times I have reconsidered if I should stay in it. However, I am in it for the art and the power in it. It is an impactful art form, capable of bringing very diverse people together. I’ve learned a great deal about myself and how I am capable of standing out by using my voice in a different way. So during the pandemic, all the extraordinary circumstances that I needed to use my voice in a different way, happened.

I took a risk by creating The Opera Next Door. I didn’t know what to expect but I deeply believed in it. I thought of it as a safe haven for the artists that had lost everything, a place of hope for our future in our industry. What I didn’t immediately see was that it was also creating positive impact in my surroundings and my community. I wanted to share my love for this art form in the most welcoming way I could think of and by creating relationships amongst my neighbors, I slowly saw how the community would feel that opera belonged to them too. At this point in my career, I have big plans for myself and The Opera Next Door. We want to become a template for other fine arts to go and reach out to the community and become active members of it. I would love to one day be able to inspire other artists to use their art, their super powers, to generate positive change in the communities they inhabit and to nurture their art by becoming active members of society, not just the artist that stands on a stage.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If you’re out for an adventure in NYC, here are a few of my favorite activities: If you’re a foodie like me, make sure you hit Chinatown for some dim sum at Jing Fong for brunch or pork buns at Mei Lai Wah for a snack. I would also make sure not to leave Chinatown without some bubble tea from Chun Yang. Definitely stick around to explore as the options are countless! I would definitely hit any museum you can think of, my favorite is The Frick Collection cause I have this silly fascination with gilded age mansions, haha. If you would like to go see music check out Terraza 7 in Queens or Barbés in Brooklyn. Of course, Broadway and Lincoln Center are also great options, but everyone knows that. There’s the classic Central Park stroll, but I would also recommend you hit Prospect Park in Brooklyn (designed by the same landscaper and he considered Prospect Park his crowning achievement). If you are looking for some spots to hit for drinks check out McSorley’s Old Ale House (great if you’re into history too, Abraham Lincoln had a drink there once) or Amor y Amargo, best cocktails I’ve had in a while. Both are in the East Village. I love reading so I would tell you to go to the Strand to check their collection. And last but not least, if you’re in NYC during the summer, make sure to check out if you can make it to one of our outdoor operas with The Opera Next Door!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s a phrase that really resonates with me: “You’re only as good as your team”. What you see is just the tip of the iceberg and I would never be where I am without the support of my team. I am so grateful to have a group of people that have been unconditional in believing in me. I want to especially shout out my partner, Zack O’Farrill, for being my number one fan and supporter. He believes in me more than I believe in myself at times and he has been essential in every step I’ve taken forward as an artist and with The Opera Next Door. I would also love to shout out to my brother Santiago, my colleagues Alejandro, Diego, Cristina, Natalie, Gary, my friends Thalia, Isabel and Krystal, the cast members of our productions, our donors, supporters and mentors. Finally, I want to shout to our neighbors and community on Willoughby Avenue and Chelsea for continuing to share this experiences with us. The list goes on, but I am forever grateful for the people who have supported my crazy ideas and have helped me set the base for The Opera Next Door to continue evolving.

Website: www.theoperanextdoor.org

Instagram: @sashagutierrrez and @theoperanextdoor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoperanextdoor/

Image Credits
Headshot- Krystal Pagan First 6 images- Krystal Pagán Last 2 images- Kathryn Tornelli