Da Capo Conversations 2.0 with Nanette McGuinness and Carla Lucero

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 192: Da Capo Conversations 2.0 with Nanette McGuinness and Carla Lucero

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

Today we revisit Nanette McGuinness’ and Carla Lucero’s collaborations. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nanette McGuinness and Carla Lucero, check them out here and here. Parts of this episode originally premiered in June 2024, click here, and August 2024, click here.

This podcast is made possible by grants from the California Arts Council, SF Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and generous donors like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1903729/episodes/18608044

Co-Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-Producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
Interns: Renata Volchinskaya, Sam Mason, Christy Xu

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00

[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists. I'm Nanette McGuinness, Artistic Executive Director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our Da Capo Conversations, a mini-series where we'll be giving familiar segments a topical twist. [INTRO MUSIC ENDS] Today we revisit my and Carla Lucero's perspectives on some of their collaborations. Here's what I had to say.

Nanette McGuinness  00:37

So my mom wasn't an artist when I was growing up, and then when my parents divorced, she became a very successful stock broker, and then floor broker. Along the way, she started to develop photography, abstract photography, and then abstract art. After I left home, we haven't done a lot of projects together, but we've done a few, and it's been really nice. So my very first CD, fabulous bomb, which I mentioned, her art, is the cover art, and it's a pre existing piece that we used for the film noir project. We wanted to have some images, and some of the pieces, her imagery really seemed to fit, and David and I talked about it, and so we had her give us some images to use that we projected, and that was really nice. And then more recently, I interviewed her for meet the artist, and then when we converted it to a podcast, I had her read her answers for that, and that was really nice. I drove down and we recorded her. It's seldom, but it's fun, and I'm really so proud of what my mom has done. She does amazingly interesting, cutting edge, abstract digital art, and she was there before other people. You know, she was a real pioneer.

Nanette McGuinness  02:04

Here's what Carla Lucero had to say.

Carla Lucero  02:07

I think at first, when I was when I hadn't had as much experience with creating operas, I felt like I had to really control all of those aspects, because I knew what I was hearing. But I, but I was kind of afraid to, and I already had the story in my mind. I was afraid to entrust it to somebody that was me being very young, you know, and not really understanding what the process was, and not also trusting my work in somebody more my idea than somebody else's hands. Right now, I've been so fortunate to work with some really great librettists, either as a colabrettist, or them just being the librettist that I understand like this. It's, it's a relationship that has to develop over time. And it's, it's a relationship of trust, oh yeah, right, yeah. And knowing, knowing that writers work, and knowing if they're if they are best for your project or not. So I tend to if I am seeking, if I'm seeking out a librettist, I tend to want to look at their work to see if it's if we understand each other on a more like, you know, what's in your heart? You know, what are your values? What? You know, that's where it starts, because so much of my work is rooted in social justice, right? It has to start there. Then I take a look at the the work that they've done before, and then, and then get to know them personally. You can usually get a good sense of who somebody is by their writing.

Nanette McGuinness  04:04

mmhmm.. The writing is clear and honest.

Carla Lucero  04:08

Yes, exactly. You know, creating operas is a very lonely, a lonely task, because it takes so long you're working hard and you don't, you're not really working with anybody. If you're creating it yourself, both at librettist and composer, the only time you come up for air and you you're interacting with other people is like during the workshop process, right? Right? So you don't have somebody to bounce ideas off of, or, you know, that type of thing. So I it's much more fun to have a, you know, a co librettist, or have a librettist that you're working with. It's a lot of fun. It could also be a disaster, right? [laughing] Yeah.

Nanette McGuinness  04:57

[laughs] A marriage ending in divorce, right?

Carla Lucero  05:01

Oh, gosh, yeah. It's like, Oh, what was I thinking? [laughing] Didn't do my research. And that's that rarely happens, and, and everybody I've worked with is brilliant, but it's, but it's like, is that brilliance? Does that brilliance jibe with with the project, or right or with who I am, you know.

Nanette McGuinness  05:24

Yeah, and you don't have to answer this, and it's certainly not one of the things that on the list of questions. But have you been in a situation where the anticipated match was, as you say, disastrous, where you had to extricate yourself?

Carla Lucero  05:39

No.

Nanette McGuinness  05:40

Good.

Carla Lucero  05:41

So, yeah, I stay the course, even if it's a less than ideal situation or partnership, right? Because the big picture is what's important and and I can say honestly that I have stayed friends with, with everybody that I've worked with in that capacity, impressive, but you understand it's, it's when you figure out that you're working styles are not really that compatible, then it creates frustration. But you have to always think, you know what? That's that person's working style or, you know, and, and does that mean I don't like the person? No, not at all. I mean, I can still adore that person. But would I work with them again? Would I invite them to a party? Yes! [laughs]

Nanette McGuinness  06:37

That's a very mature way of looking at the whole process for you.

Nanette McGuinness  06:45

[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure's Da Capo Conversations, and a special thank you to our guests for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit us at www.E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible by grants from the California Arts Council, the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and design by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to Co-producer and Audio Engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]