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The Scene Room
The Scene Room Podcast spotlights the movers and makers redefining the performing arts—focusing on innovative marketing, leadership, and the importance of collaboration. Hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman, with a keen eye on audience trends and cultural shifts, the goal is to explore how artists and organizations are connecting with communities, shaping the future, and redefining what it means to engage and inspire.
The Scene Room
David Lomelí — Tenor to Innovator: Shaping Opera’s New Era
When David Lomelí's blossoming career as a tenor was cut short by severe health issues, he didn't leave opera—he transformed how it works from behind the scenes. This conversation takes us through his remarkable journey from a naturally gifted singer in Mexico to becoming one of opera's most influential casting directors and artistic leaders.
Lomelí brings remarkable candor to his discussion of opera's business realities. Having seen the industry from both sides of the curtain, he reveals how financial pressures increasingly drive artistic decisions, with programming often shaped more by donor interests than artistic vision (in the bigger houses). His insider perspective on casting illuminates the delicate balance between artistic integrity and economic survival that defines the contemporary opera scene.
As a self-described "specialist shopper" of vocal talent who now consults for multiple major companies, Lomelí takes us into the nerve center of opera production. He shares the challenges of assembling the perfect cast when dealing with complex scheduling, budget limitations, and the competing visions of conductors, directors, and administrators. His stories from the "room where it happens" offer rare insights into how artistic decisions are actually made.
Perhaps most compelling is Lomelí's passionate advocacy for industry-wide transformation. He makes a compelling case for opera to revolutionize its approach to media, marketing, and audience engagement—proposing an "Olympic Committee of Opera" that could unite companies worldwide under collective promotion and corporate sponsorship. His vision for opera's future embraces technological innovation and transparency while honoring the extraordinary artistry that makes this form so powerful.
Whether you're a performer seeking to understand the casting process, an arts administrator grappling with financial challenges, or simply a lover of opera curious about its inner workings, this conversation will transform how you see the art form. Listen now and join the movement to reimagine opera for a new generation.
All episodes are also available in video form on our YouTube Channel. All episodes are hosted by Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bowman.
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Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bowman and welcome to the Scene Room. Today I'm talking to David Lomeli. David's journey in this industry is nothing short of remarkable, starting as a singer, then transitioning behind the scenes to become one of the most influential artistic leaders in opera today. From his groundbreaking work at the Dallas Opera and Bavarian State Opera to his leadership at Santa Fe Opera as chief artistic officer, david has consistently championed artistic excellence and true diversity in our field. Now, through Lomeli Consulting, he's expanding his impact even further. We had a really great conversation today about the industry, what could be improved, what is the state of things, and I think we could have made many more podcast episodes. If you're enjoying the podcast, please like, share, review, do all those free things. I really appreciate it. It helps keep these wonderful conversations going and I'm really grateful for the response so far to season one. Now let's get to it. David, welcome to the scene room. Thanks so much for coming.
David Lomelí:Thanks for having me. I've been a fan since the launch. I've just been getting more and more, and all your insiders combo and I said thank you for creating this.
Elizabeth Bowman:I'm really excited to talk to you because you have such an interesting background, like first as a performer and then in casting and then also as an arts administrator, so you really cover a lot of ground here, like everything that we cover here in the scene room. So it's really wonderful to talk to you. Can we start at the beginning, as I like to with all my guests? I'd love to know your journey. How did you even get into opera in the first place, and then also, how did you transition into these different facets of the industry?
David Lomelí:I am originally. I was born in Mexico City middle class family. My mom and my grandmother were singers, were very good, natural singers, that they have certain kind of instruction and they pass their follow. You know their how to breathe, how to place a couple things. And since I was a baby, and again, the mexican spanish if you hear me speak spanish in my mexico city accent is super high and it just plays the voice right there. I just said like most of the tenors from mexico are from mexico city or below. Most of them latul chacon is like the exception, but but everybody else is from below because we put the, the voice there.
David Lomelí:You know so very early since I was a kiddo, I I knew I could carry a tune and it was like my, my superpower. If I would sing in class they would let me sometimes like deliver the homework late or something. I was. I was very gifted in many in many sense. My mom, very smart, like, got us into a school. That is like there was a very fancy school for English at international school and it was for like wealthy people. So she somehow got like a job there. So we got a scholarship and that is going to start to shape who I am now, because I went to school from the beginning with my donors or the parents of my donors in many ways. So I saw them grow up and I saw understanding and I didn't know why, but I was always paying attention. In that sense and because of that I learned English decent enough, you know, very early. And because, also, it had the resources I had access to develop extra skills like my singing. Eventually, later I'm a graduate of an engineer degree in computer science and I have a master's degree in marketing, because my parents were always like, have a plan b.
David Lomelí:But while I did of that, I always performed and I was a professional artist since I was a kid. I did voiceovers for Disney. When I was a kid I sang with several pop bands. I had my own pop band, so I was always learning how to do both. You know I was a little bit entrepreneurial about working, having my own money, buying my own car. You know, don't depend on my parents to do things and still sing right, like when I was in college.
David Lomelí:They, again the life was preparing me for my path. There's a change. Whatever was the glee club? And again, my university is a very particular one for tec of monterrey in mexico that has so much resources that we had a 2000 seat auditorium and a real orchestra and these guys would buy like real licenses from real plays from broadway to come to to Mexico in our theater for a run of eight performances that we would do and we will do it right. So with that in training they started to create their own opera orchestra or like symphonic orchestra and their own opera company and they offered me a full ride for my engineering degree. I basically was paid to be an engineer by singing. I had, they had a lot of performances and plays and that trained me a lot and they would give me a little bit of training. Eventually they sent me abroad when I did the masters and I had to also train. So I met Jose Carreras and Montserrat Caballé in Barcelona that's where I went to do the degree and so I eventually started to see that opera was where I was a little bit very much gifted.
David Lomelí:In 2003, the university sent me to a place to sing where a lot of the coaches of the met were there in in italy, and they gave me the role of renu Gianni Schicchi and and suddenly I could see that the graduates of juilliard and curtis or msm or other people were coming in and I was from nowhere, nothing, and I was the, the lead tenor, and people were noticing and treating me differently, right like, and I was like, and where people were struggling, I would fly. So I started to realize that I was significantly gifted. So by the time that I finished all the degrees in 2004, I was jobless and so we had a pop band with my friends. We won a competition of singing and we started recording our thing. We did a little bit of performing and in a break that we had from the band I met Cesar Ulloa that now is a very famous teacher of voice in San Francisco Conservatory, in San Francisco Opera Penne Patis is one of his guys and he really grabbed me to the wing. I met him in Mexico City and in the Young Artists Program in Mexico that had helped Rollando Villazon and others, and he said you know you're really good and I think you should meet Placido Domingo. And in 2006, he managed to like crash an audition for other people and at one in the morning of 2006, february 6th, I met Placido and he invited me to join LA Opera. He was founding the very first Domingo Thornton troupe in 26 and gave me a wildcard invitation for operalia, like I didn't have to apply it, he just invited me.
David Lomelí:2006 I moved legally to the states. You know there was a big deal for a mexican to get a visa and a salary that good. That was very significant. My apprentice salary in 2006 it was equivalent of what my dad did at his end of the career, monthly, you know, as a banker. So everybody was like wow, he's making it. I went operalia, like end of the career, monthly, you know, as a banker. So everybody was like wow, he's making it. I went up earlier like out of the bat, like really, with no real training. So the day after I landed in LA I met Matthew Epstein that was manager of many guys famous at that time and he said, listen, I want you to stay here for two years, even though they're going to be offers to come, I want you to be here and train. And so I stayed two years there.
David Lomelí:It was a very particular era because the agreements that young artists programs have today in the United States, where if you're international, you still play, so you can, you know, sing Gastone even if you are an Alfredo, right. But in my case in those years I sang like one role a year because those were the performances that Placido would pay other artists to not sing so I could go on as a lead, you know so. But in the meantime, la really paraded me like they sent me everywhere, like from Hollywood parties to premieres, to you name it. Like for two years I sang a lot and they also released me a lot. So I went on tour. I met Duda Mel at 25, like again.
David Lomelí:I had a really grand life from 25 to 32. I went to train in San Francisco where I was an Adler and a Merla program. Immediately, pretty much. I was signed by Columbia Artists and Matthew Epstein and my career was going. I always paid attention about the business.
David Lomelí:You know, during my singing years, always and sadly, you know, I always battled with reflux. But by 2011, I was just incredibly sick. I was getting really a lot of pain. I had to take so much medicine to get through a performance. I had to be that tenor, that mark, most of the time Very, very reclusive in how my social life would go If not because everything would affect my stomach, even though 2010, 2011 were, like my career, years of engagements. I debuted in New York and Paris. Ma plays at a fair with great success, but I was in pain. I debuted in New York and Paris I Benny plays at a fair . I had to kind of put myself together every time before going on and by 2012, I got fired for the first time in Houston Grand Opera. I was literally Violetta no, I was. I was coughing blood on stage and and Diane Zola had to come in. We like that, we can, we cannot put you on like you're sick and that was very devastating. I was about to get married at that time, like it was two months before my marriage. So A I counted with that money to kind of keep my marriage going. So that was hard and really after that, like I kind of switched in desperation, switched teachers and many things you know, like many other performers would do.
David Lomelí:And to make the story short, you know, because it was a long one of ins and outs, doctors, et cetera. Eventually I had a very big problem that my esophagus was in the 1% of, like worst esophagus of the world, like they never close, and so even standing up I would get reflux and get burned. I was a little bit of cyst, like if I wouldn't have taken care I would had like major tumors, and so I had to have a lynx procedure, that that creates a like a bionic esophagus. But the time that I had the surgery I had so much burn around not in my vocal cords, but the vocal cords certainly had part in a tiny bit. But now my larynx was so burned and the nerve connection to the throat was not happening properly, and so eventually what happened is around my passaggio I couldn't really tune my voice properly. That while I sang I had famously very good pitch, you know. So I was like I think an F and it's coming an E, like why is that? So eventually drives you crazy.
David Lomelí:And this business, like you know, is so tense and so about like how good you were yesterday, it doesn't matter your 10, 20 years. And so very fast, you know, if I couldn't sing in tune, like I was getting replaced, or in a few couple of engagements they let me sing, but it was not the same success by 2014, I still had like three years of engagement, so that was just canceling because I was like I don't want to expose myself. So I left a lot of money and massive debuts in that I that I had to do it. But in 2014, I decided to again, after a few in and outs of different hospitals, to stop and I asked for a job Too many places. Nobody gave me a job and eventually Sherry Greenwell from the Merola program called Keith Cerny Turning Dallas Opera, and that was the CEO at that time and that's how I ended up in administration.
David Lomelí:I was the assistant of casting of the head of our director of artistic administration and at that time in 2014, a lot of the way that I thought life could be, or administration. When I arrived, everything was paper into Dallas. And I'm a techie, I'm an engineer too, right Like. So I immediately like create databases, move us to DocuSign. I mean it appeared like I was making a revolution, but for me it was like this is just Office 101, right Like.
David Lomelí:And again, I had so much knowledge and awareness of the artist's mind that I would see the artist even in the AGMA agreements. You know, I'm like. Oh, this is because, really, you didn't like your tenor. You know your friend tenor and this is why you're creating this clause to prevent him to join or like kind of like, why this was created. So we can, historically, if we go into an agreement, I could change it, and my best luck, I think, in order to really cement my way into administration, was that at that moment in 2014, the company was starting a program that became now a very signature program the Women Conductors, the heart program of Dallas.
David Lomelí:They gave me the opportunity to be the leader of the program, even if I didn't know a lot about women conducting, but I knew how to run things or be a leader and program manager a couple of things. And I need launch. Not only the program or the company launched my career too. I was suddenly more visible, I had something exciting. People would invite me as being the first manager of that to to many other things, and and it exploded. And and you know, I don't know I will pass here because I can tell you until I'm in Santa Fe, but I think it's a good start.
Elizabeth Bowman:What a journey. I like it because you were faced with such struggles and then that makes you even more aware of the levels of the business, because you obviously were marinating in the struggle and then you were able to break through without necessarily being aware at the time, I'm sure, but that's just how the greatest things get built. You see people go through deep struggle and then champion something and they don't even see that until after the fact where they're. Like, I had to go through that in order to achieve this great thing. So that's a great story and I'm sure we could do a whole podcast on just this, just that story. I want to ask you about casting, because Absolutely yeah, yeah.
Elizabeth Bowman:Yeah, this is like something that is somewhat of a mystery, I think, to some people. What does the casting director do? Of course they cast the roles, but what is the process and what is the essence of this role?
David Lomelí:I think that today is different than what it was 10, 15 years. You know I see it on the shoulders of legends in my industry, in my side of the industry, lik O a Moe Moe, jonathan Friend, peter Katona that I learned tremendously from them of casting patterns of sound, of what to do, solutions depending on the conductor, depending if you're going to fix the soprano, how you cast around. You know a lot of those things. I think there's a lot of being the nerd of the squad. You know. You know every role, you know even different versions. You recall the conductor in 1943 that did it in Branch Vi versus the version that they did in Napoli, and you become that kind of source that guides a little bit the process of the sound or even the artistic offering. Because from casting, you know, casting with trovatore A trovatori means something, but if you cast it with cast B it means something else. Or you're going for different types of the piece, right. But I think today the casting director or casting manager, depending on the position, it's an art form that is hard to keep because we are affected tremendously by everything, by the consequence of economy, of the world of technology, of the way that people's health can. You're scouting, you're finding people and things like that. But also, I don't know, now that I do it for several organizations I have become like an specialist shopper, like I do have my sound and I think that that's why people, my clients, hire me for. You know, I have a particular way that if you see a cast that I was involved, there's a certain amount of sound or a certain amount of excitement in the casting design. That that's why people pay me and the service well, we are doing that service that they are happy. You know I have to think about these ways. So the way that I work these days is that I'm part of a team in everywhere that I work that normally includes, for sure, the general director or the intendant.
David Lomelí:In many ways I have a counterpart that is the head of casting locally or the director of artistic administration or some sort of artistic operator that really runs the day-to-day and of course, has to say because it's every day with your audience, every day with your backstage knows which voices kind of sound better in their theater. But maybe they don't have the resources to travel as much as me, they don't know artists as much as me. I have been an artist myself and I was to an elite level so I can learn and I know how to address every journey of the guy you know the, the aging guy, the, the in trouble guy, their prime time, the struggling artist coming up, the rising artist, the chorister, like those type of guys. I went from that version right and and through different markets too try signing many different markets in different singing language, different idiosyncrasies, so I can adapt pretty fast and in a way I'm also a consequence of the economy these days that non-company can really just have a guy that just cast and travels the world and pays them like $40,000, $50,000 a year to scout worldwide, plus their salary and health insurance, like just to do that. Like I wish, because I still think that we are the product in many ways or we determine or affect the product so much that that is not, but it's not the case.
David Lomelí:So normally you know like casting directors in Europe make 40 grand a year. Of massive opera companies, the biggest one, the biggest ones that you can imagine in Europe, are around 100 grand. That is great if you consider many things. You can imagine in Europe are around a hundred grand. That is great if you consider many things. But consider what other coaches or director of player personnel of other industries or sports, and these are the guardians of the traditions, of how we suppose the people or a voice execute, and trendsetters right. And now we're just part of a team, you know, like we have also music directors inside, and many times other teams decide to bring the director of production or the funding guy like director of development, and so I normally am the one that, like I was told by the manager, you know, I want to do traviata or master singers and so and he says, like you know, I'm thinking about doing it a little bit light chamber sound, because I'm going to play it in my, I don't know, in my alternative space and we're not going to have more than 600 people, so don't give me the big trivia type of almost like a chamber sound, because also I cannot put on many people in the pit, for example.
David Lomelí:And so I bring a cast and I feel that I sometimes I feel like those reels that are, you know, making fun of different people, but just play by myself. And I'm like the general director is like you know, I have a donor that can pay for lisette oropesa, and you're like, oh, my god, I have seven shows and of course, lisette oropesa is in my list, but how can we fit them? If it's oropesa, then three of my tenors don't fit and she, even if we have that desire, she might not fit, like she might not be free right to this period. And then, you know, I proposed certain things and the director of casting said, you know, I wouldn't want this artist because he was mean to my stage manager. So you readjust and then the music director says like, oh, but I want it in like Baroque pitch, so I really want these people to have a very strong E flat in certain register. And you're like, oh, the one that I put is not very strong.
David Lomelí:So you readjust and I brought already like seven, like different generations of the cast and many times and this is why it's so important these days to have social media or something to keep your name. You never know when you're gonna be that person I have now I've been tracking the past three years 30 of my bookings is the person I saw on youtube or on social media in the past two weeks because, after bringing this like a massive cast that I already pre-made according to whatever recipe they were asking me Once we were in that timetable. Things change Also now casting directors, the cast that you can have today is not the cast that you can have tomorrow or not in cast three months. And part of also like where I am now in my consultancy and independence is that many houses have now very different timelines. Many even houses say, okay, these three titles we can do it three years in in advance. This title is going to be two years in advance and this one we're going to decide like three weeks before the brochure is done and that's going to be like on the cheapest and what is on sale, right.
David Lomelí:So it is a particular skill. You have to be everywhere. You also have to be aware of the teams that you're going to pitch. I particularly, I'm a singer and I have my sound, so I'm very zealous of the people. That almost I feel. Again, it's not that people are going to come after me, but the way that I design a sound in a cast. It's almost like if I was going to sing it, right. So it's very personal which colors, which sounds, which personalities I feel are going to transmit what I want to say in that piece. And that's my little part that I add to whatever the conductor, the performer, the designer, the director does right. And so sometimes when people are like, oh my God, why you're not spreading the wealth? And I'm like because I wouldn't sing differently every time, again, I have a sound that if I found guys that I consistently find guys that fit that spectrum of sound, I will get in. But today there's so myriad of things, a lot of them affected by cash, that I have to adapt and respond as a casting director.
Elizabeth Bowman:I mean, there are so many factors that you need to consider, like you were mentioning the venue, how a voice carries in that venue. And then not only that, but once you've even identified that venue, the conductor and their tempi change everything. So like, if suddenly you have a shift in the conductor, then it's going to change everything, because you're then like, oh well, is it going to be Yannick Nezeguet's tempo, or is it? You know what I mean? Or is it going to be, oh, this guy takes everything super fast, Like it's Mozart. It's just like everything is just picked up a notch, which then completely changes the coloratura and everything. So I can't, like, I really can't imagine, like the trials and tribulations of a casting director.
Elizabeth Bowman:And then to consider you keep mentioning this budget thing a lot of companies are not planning as far ahead, which is really tragic because that is impacting our industry.
Elizabeth Bowman:It's more impactful than people understand. We need to be planning at least five years in advance. Everyone, even the smaller companies, need to be planning this far in advance. Because when we talk about in PR, for instance because that's my background, pr marketing, that kind of thing the important thing is that we uphold artistic integrity in everything that we're promoting. We're not just like, oh, there's the campaign and who cares about what the artistic director had to say about the production. We need to uphold that vision and then figure out a way to have that audience access that vision, and that's the job of a good arts marketer. I think this is the same thing like if we're cutting casting timelines, then it is having an impact on artistic integrity and this is like a silent thing because it's not necessarily promoted to the outside world. So another reason for this podcast is to really highlight underscore the importance of those timelines. Are you seeing, in terms of programming, different changes like other than these timelines? But have the programs been changing?
David Lomelí:I work with. My more visible clients are four. That again, also my agreements allow me to disclose that I work for them. So I have many clients that are having NDAs and different. Again I'm a consequence to the market. You know, like a level three or level four opera house in budget wise, according to the Opera America guidelines, right, like below a million dollars, below five million dollars a year, they definitely don't have the money. Or even if it's for them in many ways, like the fun part of the company, once they are faced on, like they see my database or in state of the art, of how much travel, how much scouting, how much I rely also in things that are not normally used in casting, they react to that point, right. But for me again, coming back to that, like the clients that I can speak more openly, they are so affected by cash that today, sadly, I wish that there was a lot of artistic decision and they still is.
David Lomelí:You know there's still, of course you're picking maybe one title a season where you really are is where you want to say something. But then in every house that I work in America there's always an anchor piece in whatever they think the anchor is. You know it's either like a Tosca Carmen, an Aida Bohem, a Nox, some kind of like a major top 10 classic in many of the houses today. Because of cash flow also, that signifies that you're burning possibly two or even three titles, depending your how much you offer of those or similar. Today a risk is rusalka or peleas in them in america. And then you know, weirdly enough we can fundraise really great for big projects like strauss, wagner and, until a few years, big russian repertoire. Because of that, like that you can create excitement with your funders. But of course they are so big, those pieces, that just to keep that piece on the season you have to go above a couple of millions on your fundraising goal that year and that you have to pay it later, even though it was the piece that created more innuendo in the season. Every time that I was in Santa Fe or even Dallas and Atlanta and we put the ring or a big Wagner project or a big Strauss project, like people just flew into it because it's an experience, right, like it's rarely performed and it's so theatrical and cinematic and almost. Also this music is very much quoted in stealing in general culture that it's easy, but it's not yet as much as a response to just artistic taste.
David Lomelí:Whoever has a lot of artistic taste normally has very small budget. The guys that have the biggest budget are responding, especially in America, to these days, more and more to to almost the what the desire of the board wants to say in many ways. What the desire of the board wants to say in many ways, because the board these days has 80, sometimes even 85% of the income comes from given income, right, so there's that, you know, an understandable. If you're giving money, you want to see something that you like, right. So the skill now a lot is, how can you keep that independency, that artistic impresario mind, when the only money you can find is the guy that would give you the full budget for a pearl fishers? And I have seen it countless of times again.
David Lomelí:Part of of my decision to kind of create a consultancy and keep everybody because if I have the agreement that I'm consultancy, that this is not my personal enchilada, right, like with everybody, I better just put my tag of like I'm the shopper and I'm a great shopper. Like you, tell me what you want and I will give it you at different rates, different formations. You want more diversity, less diversity, like bigger, sound, less sound, everything I can put it. I have that. But if you hire me to be your cook, then don't put salt after I serve it. So for me, if mentally health, like I can, and also because of the economy, these days, many times, many times a year, I, you know, three years in advance they asked me to do something and then six years later, when we're finally seeing the, the show on the season looks completely different.
David Lomelí:We are in a scenario something right like so for me, my word, also as an artist, is hard. It's faster if I am like I'm gonna just help and like fix or give the foundations and then they execute, but when it's mine, it's particular. So I have now settled in a way with life and my employers to be in this particular way where I can do it. Again, programming side is hard. Everybody's responding to the cash that they can access. If there's a donor that wants to pay to buy a speaker and is the real amount that we need, we're going to program him because he's great, right, like he's also good because artistically something to say.
David Lomelí:But sometimes people ask me it's like but my piece is great and it was like but no one is connecting you at the level of the executive producer. So more and more these days we have to find in combination with our teams and that's why now we have most of the CEOs are fundraisers. These days are not coming from the artistic departments, if you really see. They come because they can connect the money and hopefully they can find a team that artistically still gives them competition, marketing we still have to say something and production we can execute. So it's for me I would say like I would like to respond in a more artistical way, but I am there in the room where it happens. The only guys that I see that still program things accordingly to their own artistic vision is the biggest artistic institutions in Europe, you know, but in America I don't see it.
Elizabeth Bowman:I actually see your response more positively because you're adapting to the current climate and I think that that's that's really great and innovative and more hopeful for the industry, because you're able to problem solve on the fly, which is obviously what is required. Obviously, in an ideal world, we're programming and doing everything in a timeline and then sticking to it in all departments and collaborating and all these things. But obviously the way the world is going right now for our industry it's not like that right now in terms of the money and the innovation in the industry which I hesitate to use the word innovation because it's not innovating very quickly. But I think there are many bodies that are hoping and pushing and trying new things, mostly with the smaller, more malleable companies, and that makes sense in a sense because they have much less bureaucracy to deal with, much less red tape to deal with.
David Lomelí:No, it is true, it is true. You know one of my clients that is the last one that I that I joined is the Atlanta Opera. In the past three years they have knocked it out of the park in the way that they fundraise. They have expanded the season and everybody's like, what are you guys doing? And I tell everybody they have one key thing Besides the guy that runs it is an extraordinary fundraiser, tomer's Vulum.
David Lomelí:He has been so zealous into creating these particular agreements with the orchestra and the constituents. That allows him to, in combination with very creative mind, business making. The state of Georgia has one of the biggest film tax credits and facilities for filming. Right Combined that when he was coming up and building the orchestra because he grabbed it at a very crisis moment and a very small budget to four to now almost 25 in six years he saw that filming and audiovisual content was going to be where you could really differentiate your people. So, for example, the Metropolitan Opera, yes, launches the posters and everything of what you're going to see at the beginning of the season and that's what you have and clips from previous things or other productions.
David Lomelí:But people today are not dumb. You want to see what you're going to see. You want to see what you're actually going to experience and you want to find security and assurance that that's what is going to happen. So they start previewing 45 to 28 days the show, from even the rehearsal room till opening night, and they have so many pieces of content, inclusive of one of the dress rehearsals where the camera is walking on stage Right, so the type of trailers and visuals they got, and then they give so much for free and subscription basis. These guys have 10,000 people on the live stream every time they go live. Why? Because they've been actually able to promote their product 28 days before opening night. The Met does it like sometimes at the most 24 hours, is when you see the snippet of Javier Camarena nail in the high D and I'm like why did I? Didn't see it for a month so I could actually plan my travel from Mexico.
David Lomelí:So there's a lot of things that I feel that if you don't have different aspects of designing or attacking your ways and adapting to these particular matters, there's not going to be, and sadly, the small ones are the ones that can't do it because they don't have these very difficult agreements. One of my biggest frustrations, for example, working and I have brought it up with them being inside of the meetings and everybody would you say flexibility of changing because of my positions. I have been part of the signatories of the. There's like a media agreement that 90 percent of classical institutions of music, symphonies and opera have signed, but it's like the most archaic agreement. You know. It's like if you film like 15 minutes in yourself and I'm like you have to pay this man no money too recently, wanting my to give you an example, my consultancy has different clients and so I had a client that it was a label and a conductor that wanted to do a big opera, and so I went to several organizations to ask how much would it charge me to record, let's say, salome.
David Lomelí:The London Philharmonic Orchestra can do it in eight sessions for £150,000. The Atlanta Opera Orchestra the cheapest, the cheapest AFM agreement that I managed in these several clients I have was 300,000. And the quality, I love them everybody, but it's not the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the skill power. But one is for sale, the other one is not, and the other one if you want it for sale, it's almost like double.
Elizabeth Bowman:That reminds me of several times where I've tried to go backstage with clients to film stuff for I don't know Instagram or any social media, and I would have to first of all put it in writing. Obviously I understand that, but you put it in writing and you have to do it at least like a month and a half in advance. It's ridiculous. And then they have to post it on the wall for every artist to see that you will be filming this little clips backstage that have nothing to do with those artists 24 hours in advance. Then you're not allowed to plug anything into the wall. That's the other.
Elizabeth Bowman:There's the other thing I wasn't allowed to plug anything in, so that's. I mean, that's fine. I mean I have my phone, I'm not going to plug anything in, but the rules, like you say, they're so archaic. Anyway, it's a complete kind of nightmare, like all of the precepts in place around media footage. And yes, I did achieve much greater things in England when a client was going over there doing a recording with a big orchestra there and I had full access to everything. It was so easy and the product was wonderful and we were able to promote the album that they had just recorded, you know, and no one else was taking that footage. So had they not had that footage then, then they would not necessarily have a campaign. So, yeah, we need to figure out a way or have certain people on some sort of approval list that can do immediate things.
David Lomelí:I don't know, I don't know what the I think that actually we need to let it go. You know, I think that that part of the approval things, of the control of things, is, like Taylor Swift and the biggest grammy people, that tom brady, everybody no one that is heavily compensated by entertaining a sport or art form that is actually compensated in this world gets film and if they screw up something, it's live because it's human and that's exploiting who we are. We're voyeuristic creatures. We want to see what's happening with you, right? So the fact that it breaks my heart that every time I go to a concert of Coldplay or Taylor Swift or whoever it is, or I go to a soccer game, you know everybody's filming and that introduces the product in a familiar way, like what my mom sees or my friend sees through my Instagram influences, more than anything, that are commercial, paid by Coca-Cola. So when you have those guys and you have millions of people introducing Taylor Swift to their own friends and family, right, we don't enjoy that and then we complain again. All the things that I feel.
David Lomelí:You know what is the main challenges of a singer today? And it's the fact that the performer today has to be in a monumental fight to become the top five singer in your repertoire in the world. And that's how is the only way that you can not really self-promote or struggle that much Like if you are to have that technique, that singing, that level of singing, you're going to be employable. I don't tell you where. Right, because today massive superstars like Nadine Sierra have still a consistent habit of sharing content of themselves as a human being, as a performer special looks, special access, a consistent diet of, of feeding your audience content. Right, that every major performer, entertainer of the world, celebrity is doing right, like and so it. It just worries me today that the performer today, besides not having that mindset of of excellence, of that the technology of today also has made us expect success very fast and it can be with social media and with things you can. You can really like, win a competition and and be discovered pretty fast. If you're good, you can see. You know when did emily d'angelo erupted in in the business? Maybe 17, 18 in opera in portugal, and now I've seven years is booked in the top 10 opera houses every single month. Right, like, there's possibility if the level is there. But today there's so much noise because your competition, even the struggling artists maybe connect online better than you and they may make you feel that there you're not successful as much. But then then the super influencer singer never gets a booking, so that person feels that is not successful.
David Lomelí:With diversity have been thrown around too, and again with economics reducing the sizes of output that we have for the workforce. Now every single ethnicity or every single race represented in, especially in the American stages feels angry. I see it in my hate mail, right Like the white person is like oh, you're super diverse, I only got one gig. The black one is like you're such a racist one because I just got one gig. The Mexican is like, hey, you're only helping this person because they only saw one Mexican getting that gig. And the Asian Opera Alliance is going to create a whole like post about you know you only shy 100. But I said I have four gigs to give and by being democratic I'm not helping the career of any four right, because the four is not. You're not creating a consistency of something. So it's because of the economic. That's why I wanted to get out Many of the things that you are today.
David Lomelí:Experience of frustration as a singer or a conductor or a pianist or anything in this business is just at the root of it Lack of opportunities because of the economy, representation of who we are in the world. If that is not addressed, everything else is almost masturbatory content for me and I'm the casting director. But again, because I work for so many and I see that I have to fundraise for Munich and I have to fundraise for Croatia and Mexico and Argentina and the label, whoever it is in this business, is fundraising those who have good cash flow. The talent that is good evaporates to the best bidder right away. You know so. All of these are for money. You know so if we're not very aware and also we don't see those things, things we can get involved by the toxicity of it and then it gets even worse, you know, because then we're fighting for peanuts when really the enchiladas are bubbles.
David Lomelí:In september, october, I went to london to the business of opera forum, sponsored by lit loud, a trust fund, and they brought the the guy that created the marketing campaign for the olympics to land in london in 2012 and it was was so funny because I have advocated many things like that, you know, but I'm always shut down. But he said you know, you need to act together. Someone needs to kind of like sponsor the marketing of your industry and bring brands and celebrities to endorse you? Right, and all of us were like, ok. And then, at the same time, it's like, ok, who's willing to organize the Olympic Committee of Opera? We're like, okay. And then, the same time, it's like, okay, who's willing to organize the olympic committee of opera? The business like the who is the commission of opera that is gonna say listen, I have 400 places of music making around the world in 17 different markets and our businesses worth seven billion dollars. X brand. Like, if you get to announce yourself in every single venue from our commission of opera, give us 30 million dollars that then we can redistribute to X amount of people every single day.
David Lomelí:Within, no one is promoting opera as a sport and I think that we are seeing the era where, finally, classical music.
David Lomelí:We can make the argument right of many things, but the world is into less resources in anything, so luxury things like us are starting to get questioned in every part of the world. So if opera doesn't realize that they have to find a way to matter again to the common citizen, we're going to extend. And within the casting process, right, like I feel many times when I find in the casting it's like, yes, but you're not getting cast because of the economy is this way? So now I need more of the influencer, and of course the influencer brings their own audience, and of course the influencer brings their own audience and, of course, if they sing well, even better. Right, so it's a combination of many stuff that today an artist needs to be aware. So A don't take it personally, it's really really, really hard. Everybody's suffering from the same. The superstars are because absolutely, and every single aspect of the performing, evaluating art, are incredibly good at it, and those are the guys that we have to hook on ourselves many times.
Elizabeth Bowman:I love the idea of having sort of an overarching media company that would act as a chief of partnership for the industry and all the opera houses, let's say, in North America or even globally. I mean, they could do this globally and have very specific influencers that would target those audiences. Like do the research, figure out the kinds of people in that community and then figure out the kinds of influencers that would do the best job, and that won't necessarily mean those who have the most followers or's about engagement and it's about what that community is engaging in. So if you do the research and you find the right partnerships and you have an agency that is in charge of actually doing this research and figuring out all these partnerships and that's their specialty, that would be like a huge service for the industry. I love that idea.
David Lomelí:Well, and also, if you really think about it, like every major sports you know, like that has an industry attached right Like golf, soccer, football, you know the industry has already all the media channels, attentions, know-how, circle and cycle right. Like that, when the meritocracy of a super talented rock like a Messi or a jitter or something like this, the system is so ready for a talent like that that you don't have to self-promote yourself. The industry becomes your ally to promote yourself, make you a bankable brand because you have demonstrated that you have that talent here. How many guys? Everybody that writes me in my hate mail is like oh, but I'm good, of course you're good. Everybody that writes me in my hate mail is like oh, but I'm good, of course you're good. Everybody that is singing already in a level one worldwide is good. It's what that is extra, because again, there's like six jobs to give that. How you become that one of those six? But we would be better if we have better infrastructure, if we have media agreements, if we have everything that allows us democratization to the access of attention to our audience. But we're so pompous about who has access to these things and we don't want people to see us flawed or missing a note or something, but somehow we see like major athletes of the world that work as hard as us, getting injured in real life and sometimes like life-threatening things, because that's why you get paid that much. If you don't have so many people watching you and spending their lives and breaths for you, why would you get paid? That's what I don't understand with my fellow performers and even my fellow industries Professionalists is like why are we so aggrieved to investing altogether in buying ourselves? We have the cash. If we as an industry get a pot of $10 million a year reinvested into, like digital marketing for the industry of opera, I promise you there's science about it we will change the perception and the lobbying Like.
David Lomelí:The other day I read that OpenAI has like 400 employees and 40% of them are lobbying. The way that worldwide opinion makers seen AI. How many people work in opera around the world? Way more than 400. How many percentage are loving? Let's just say in America.
David Lomelí:You know, like when I was part of the Strategic Committee on Diversity in Opera, america we share a representative. We share we dance USA. We share one representative kind of loving into the American Senate and Congress. I'm like we have one, but we still have that many people in development in Chicago or Dallas we couldn't have like 50 lobbings Like. Why don't you companies sponsoring one of them Right Like because we think so micro and never just without exactly have to jump like we will never in a sports arena think that the marketing of the Yankees is bigger than the marketing of the MLB. That actually puts everybody. We know the Yankees are great, we know Real Madrid is great, but the FIFA marketing, the FIFA advocating for that aspect of humanity is what we lack, right Like, we prefer the micro and we don't help actually the healthy economy of the sport.
Elizabeth Bowman:I know you have to go, so I will wrap this up, but I do want to say that when you talk about people in the industry so afraid to show mistakes, show an imperfection, this is obviously, like a huge part of the classical music as a whole industry, something that we need to get over. And my mantra as a publicist is honesty resonates, and I couldn't agree more right now with the idea that honesty does resonate, and that's ultimately what we all want to see. We do want to see, we want to hear your stories, we want to see the struggles involved in that career, we want to see you stand up again and then prevail again and again, and then struggle again and then prevail. And I'm a runner, not like a great runner, but I like running, and the reason why I like running is this idea of the struggle, the goal, this idea of the struggle, the goal. You set a goal you try to achieve that goal.
Elizabeth Bowman:And you know, I have a marathon goal that is like pretty lofty and I'm, you know, and I keep it lofty. And I told my son the other day it was like well, I've gone, I've done two marathons and I have not succeeded yet. I mean, I, I achieved, I crossed the finish line. So I guess, you know, you know, you know a lot of people would say that that's, that's an achievement in itself and and I would too but ultimately, like, my lofty goal is still there. And I tell my son what my goal is and I'm like it's just about getting up again and trying again and that, you know, I know that resonates with my children and I know that that idea of lofty goals and trying to achieve them resonates with people around the world in general. So, yeah, I'd love to see that more in our industry and I'm so glad to talk to you and I feel like we we could do like 10 podcast episodes together.
David Lomelí:Absolutely no. Thank you so much for the combo. I really enjoy your mind. And what are you asking? Because I think, even if it's just to put out the idea out there, you know, like I again, those are the projects that now again, I'm still casting and I'm doing my scouting and everything but one more I'm building and with some confidentiality, like the projects that I hope that I can help in a way or address this. You know, I wish exactly what you say that we have a netflix show that shows the struggle of every person right of that, really the connection of that, and that we cannot control always how we've been seen, because the more honest we are, the more human we look and better we connect this, this robotic aspect, even like sometimes when we do transmission, then we're like so proper, and what is the characters like thinking? I'm like no, are you scared today? Like like, how does it feel like you just won the championship? We don't want to act like well, susanna said in the act.
Elizabeth Bowman:No, you know like, tell me my human aspect. Thanks for being here today and, uh, I'll look forward to chatting with you again me too can't wait.
