Cartas de Inés

Commissioned by Opera in the Heights
Music by Alejandro Basulto
Libretto by Bruno Rios

A grandfather who resides in Mexico reads a letter from Inés, his now teenage granddaughter who moved to the United States when she was little. In her letter, Inés asks her "Tata" if he is preparing the Christmas tree, the gifts, and flowers the way she remembers. They both know they have to spend the holidays apart for yet another year. Their connection endures with their cherished Christmas memories preserved through their letters, traditions, and music.

 

DOC the Halls

Premieres December 2, 2022

 

Artists

Octavio Moreno, Tata, baritone and guitar
Ariana Valeria Vázquez, Young Inés
Isabella Moreno, Teenage Inés

Dominika Dancewicz, violin

Production Team

Music by Alejandro Basulto
Libretto by Bruno Rios
Producer and Music Director: Eiki Isomura
Video Production: Big A Productions
Video Director: Abbas Padilla
Director of Photography: David Gaona
Camera AC: Andrew Olson
Costumes & Make-up: Lisa Longoria
Recording Engineer: Josh Applebee
Production Coordinator: Coral Longoria

Filmed on location at Old Town Harrisburg

Special thanks to:
The Old Town Harrisburg staff, Altagracia Vázquez, Martin Alejandro Longoria, Roxi Cargill and Peter V. Weston

Octavio Moreno

University of Arizona alumnus, Mexican-American baritone Octavio Moreno participated in the artist program at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia and the Houston Grand Opera Studio. His previous engagements include the roles of John Proctor in “The crucible,” Figaro in “The barber of Seville,” Zurga in “The pearl fishers,” Don Alfonso in “Cosi fan tutte”,” Xihuitl in “Pasado Nunca Se Termina,” Laurentino in “Cruzar la cara de la luna,” Germont in “La Traviata,” Malatesta in “Don Pasquale,” Enrico in “Lucia di Lammermoor” the title role of “Rigoletto,” Belcore in “The Elixir of Love,” Tonio in “Pagliacci.” Dr. Moreno has sung with companies such as, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Theatre Chatelet (Paris), Bellas Artes (Mexico City), Arizona Opera, New York City Opera, Ecuador Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera in the Heights, among others.

Abbas Padilla

Abbas was born in Houston, Texas, the son of a Colombian immigrant father and a mother from far West Texas. As a student at Sam Houston State University, photography was his passion until he took his first video production class. After college Abbas has filmed projects all over the United States, Mexico, Israel, Jamaica, Curacao and more. His proudest recognitions have been the three Directors Awards he has received for his international tourism advertising work. In 2010 Abbas opened Big A Productions, a boutique production company based in Houston, Texas. His goal for the future is to work on more collaborative projects with organizations that promote unity, diversity, equality and justice. www.bigavideoservices.com

Alejandro Basulto

In the words of American conductor Michael Stern, Alejandro Basulto is a “wonderfully gifted young Mexican composer. His focus on his Latin-American identity, keen awareness of what is around him, and his wonderful sense of musical color make perfectly clear how relevant music can be in our contemporary world." 

Alejandro’s music has been performed by the ROCO, Houston Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Swan, Mexico’s National Chamber Orchestra, the State Orchestras of Jalisco, Xalapa and Yucatan, the Barcelona Symphonic Band, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, among others. Alejandro’s awards include a Fulbright-Garcia Robles Scholarship, the First Prize in the National Orchestral Composition Competition in Jalisco (2016), Second Prize in the Robert Avalon International Composition Competition (2016), the First Prize in the Alabama Orchestra Association Composition Competition (2016), First Prize in the International Composition Competition “Manuel Enríquez” (2015), Second Prize in the Composition Competition “Nuestra América” (2014), the “Youth Award in Arts” from the State of Yucatán (2012), and recently the 2020 Respighi Prize in Composition, the Honorable Mention in the Flute New Music Consortium Composition Competition (2018), the Texas New Music Ensemble Composition Competition (2017) and the New York-based North/South Consonance Call for Scores (2018), among others. His music has been commercially recorded by Toccata Classic (UK). 

Alejandro has composed music for several award-winning multimedia projects, featuring numerous collaborations with Mexican studio AVA (Artes Visuales y Animación), which includes festivals such as iMapp Bucharest, Luna Fete (New Orleans), and Circles of Light at the Bolshoi Theater. His media music has been recorded by leading orchestras and conductors in the film music industry, including the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas Dodd (conductor of the music of Avatar and the James Bond Saga).

Eiki Isomura

Bruno Rios

Bruno Ríos is a translator, multigenre writer, and academic from Sonora, Mexico. He holds a PhD in Latin American literature from the University of Houston. He is the author of three poetry books, most recently Cueva de leones/Lion's Den (2015), partially translated into English by Roberto Tejada, and a novel, La voz de las abejas (2016). He is currently chair of the World Language Department at The Emery/Weiner School.