Hear their story: a family separated by a border

To honor Hispanic Heritage Month, Music of Remembrance is pleased to offer Video on Demand streaming of Tres minutos, an absorbing one-act opera by the young Mexican American composer Nicolas Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch. 

This important work tells the story of Nila and her brother Diego. Allowed a brief supervised reunion at the US-Mexico border that separates them, they wrestle with questions of identity, duty and belonging. “Tres minutos comes at a time in our country,” remarks composer Benavides, “when we have a refugee crisis, and we have the choice to make it better or make it worse.”

Those who attended the opera’s premieres this May in Seattle and San Francisco were deeply affected. One audience member commented: “Tres minutos reminds us that beyond the political arguments about immigration policy, immigrants are actual people with real lives, deep emotions and complicated relationships.”

From September 15 through October 15, a cinema-quality video of this vital work will be available for online viewing for a modest access charge of $10 for a 72-hour viewing period. The performance features soprano Vanessa Isiguen, baritone José Rubio and tenor Brendan Tuohy, in a production conceived and directed by Erich Parce and conducted by the composer. 

MOR’s stellar instrumental ensemble, drawn from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, features clarinetist Laura DeLuca, violinist Mikhail Shmidt, violist Susan Gulkis Assadi, cellist Walter Gray, double bassist Jonathan Green, and pianist Jessica Choe.

Start streaming

Click the link below to rent the concert on Vimeo. Rental is for a 72-hour period.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/tresminutos