The Schubert Club premiere of “Tienda”

May 2019.

Venezuelan composer Reinaldo Moya was commissioned by the Schubert Club in St. Paul to write the one-act opera “Tienda” based on the life of Luís Garzón, one of the first Mexican immigrants to reside in Minnesota in the 1880’s. The opera grapples with questions of racism and assimilation and the many ways in which immigrant populations are excluded despite a lifetime of service and citizenship. Exhibiting modernist tendencies within an eclectic 21st-century compositional style, the music is difficult to perform for both instrumentalists and singers (and the conductor!), yet perfectly encapsulates the drama and angst of the opera’s message.

Rafael was honored to be asked to premiere this important new work by Dr. Moya and looks forward to more engagements conducting Moya’s musical works.