In this episode, we talk with graduate student Michael Robert Smith about writing the opera Downwind in collaboration with librettist Demian Chavez Galvan and the entire Butler Opera Center. Michael discusses the inspiration for the opera, followed by a brief score study of a few key moments from the work.

We talk with undergraduate student Sidney Becktold about her research on vocal injuries. Sidney discusses her research collaboration with the Moody School of Communication and the Butler School of Music. She also talks about working with assistant professor of voice Dr. Liliana Guerrero to create the research project, “Using Cepstral Peak Prominence Values in Research and the Voice Studio,” which Sidney presented at the Pan-American Vocology Symposium, where she won Best Student Presenter.

In this episode, we talk with choral master’s student Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon about running Austin Cantorum, creating the all-female group VAMP, and what it’s like to be a working musician in the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas.