Within a couple of weeks recently, Malibu resident and rising young opera aspirant Manny Sanoja found himself chosen by a select international opera company to star in a production to be staged this summer in France, ensconced in a French provincial hotel for weeks of rehearsals and performing before thousands in theaters located in perhaps the most ancient and picturesque region of France.
The new gig took him by such surprise that he didn’t even have a passport ready.
“I had to go down to an office in a scary area of downtown L.A. to get a rushed passport approval,” Sanoja said, who learned of his good fortune just weeks before he had to hop on a plane.
His adventure began when he decided in May to answer a last-minute call for auditions for the summer program at the Franco American Vocal Academy. FAVA is a nonprofit affiliated with the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas that stages summer programs for emerging professionals, especially opera singers on the cusp of their professional careers.
As a senior at USC’s Thornton School of Music, Sanoja knew that this was an opportunity to fulfill three goals — look good on his resume, give him a chance to learn French, which he sings but doesn’t speak, and get to spend an enviable amount of summer time in the Dordogne region of France — an area known for its foie gras, Monbazillac wine and ancient cave drawings by earliest man.
Not only was the tenor invited to join the program, he landed the lead role in “La Belle Helene,” a lyric opera piece (the French call it Opera-Bouffe) by Jacques Offenbach, originally created for a Parisian theatre in 1864. The story parodies the venerable Trojan tale of Helen (she whose face launched a thousand ships), Paris’ abduction of her and her husband Menelaus’ revenge. The Offenbach operetta happily leaves a lot less carnage onstage than the Homerian epic and has been a perennial lyric opera favorite since its debut.
“I submitted links to my YouTube videos on the FAVA website while I was sitting at Starbucks in Cross Creek [Road],” Sanoja said. “Three hours later they emailed me back and said I had the role.”
The next step was to figure out a way to pay for his adventure. The cost for flying to Paris at the last minute and living for five weeks was steeper than his pocketbook allowed, so he turned to a crowd-funding campaign on YouCaring.com to raise the $8,500. He reached his goal within a few days, scrambled for a passport and soon found himself deep in rehearsals — and immersion French classes — half a world away from Malibu.
“The program attracts a lot of really good singers from around the world,” Sanoja said. “Fortunately, I had performed scenes from ‘La Belle Helene’ and I was familiar with the music. But learning to speak French at the same time is totally more complex.”
Sanoja stayed in a small apartment in the Latin Quarter of Paris and rehearsed for three weeks before the company descended to the Dordogne for performances in Perigueux and Thiviers in early August. His vocal coach in the project is the assistant conductor for FAVA, a former Studio Artist at the Houston Grand Opera and head vocal coach at the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston, Ana Maria Otamendi. Sanoja said his relationship with her and director William Lewis (former lead tenor with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City) has been invaluable to his technique and his future.
“Professor Lewis thinks that Germany would be a good place for me to start auditioning after I graduate,” Sanoja said. “I want to return to finish my last semester at USC, regroup with my family, then start focusing on international opera companies.”
Sanoja had “always sung” while growing up, but was more attuned to pop and R&B artists such as Stevie Wonder and Brian McNight. Once he started classes at Santa Monica College, his professor suggested that he start thinking about opera.
The young tenor believes that his role of Paris in “La Belle Helene” is suited to his voice, but he also likes “anything by Rossini.” In any case, he said that the experience of working in France has fired his imagination for an international stage and given him a vast appreciation for the culture introduced to him in France.
What has he appreciated the most about his Gallic adventure?
“The boulangeries (bakeries),” he said, laughing. “The pastries are my downfall. But the culture and landscape here is not like anything I’ve ever seen before. The ruins, the ancient river. Every American kid should travel here.”
Not that he’s not a bit homesick.
“I can’t wait to get back for some Chipotle,” Sanoja said. “I haven’t had Mexican food in six weeks!”
