THE PROJECT Conductor Marlon Daniel on developing young talent in Cuba BY DAV I D SA L A Z A R
This story originally appeared in OperaWire. It has been edited for style and space. n most countries around the world, once you leave the conservatory setting, you have a number of options through which you can build your career. Whether it be working with independent companies, engaging with young artist programs or even doing residencies, there are options — albeit competitive ones — available to the burgeoning opera artist. In some countries, there are even the means to create your own projects, start your companies, put on your own performances and build your career in that manner. But not in Cuba. When conductor Marlon Daniel (Mu Xi, New York City Alumni) headed to the Festival Mozart-Habana 2021 to lead a performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” he was struck by something he hadn’t encountered before. “In Cuba there are no vocal young artist programs like in the U.S. or Europe. It’s the school or the opera and no in between,” said Daniel, who is also the founder of Festival International de Music Saint-Georges in Guadeloupe and the first conductor to lead a performance of the composer’s long-lost opera “L’Amant Anonyme” in over 230 years. He noted that even when he was running auditions for “Don 2
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Marlon Daniel (right) collaborated with Ubail Zamora and Ivette Betancourt, both professors at the University of the Arts in Cuba, to launch the Discovery Opera Project. Giovanni,” he was told that the process was beyond what anyone had ever experienced. A lot of the development aspects of the production process were also limited. This prompted Daniel to seek out a solution that would serve young Cuban artists and help them build their careers in their own country. And thus, the Discovery Opera Project was born.
