Miguel Cantu, left ,formed American Baroque Opera with his husband, Eric Taeyang Mun. (Courtesy photo)
Gay-founded American Baroque Opera defies operatic expectations
RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer
richlopezwrites@gmail.com
In just its fourth season last year, American Baroque Opera faced the pandemic challenges like any other arts organization. But instead of just focusing on getting through it, founders and husbands Miguel Cantu and Eric Taeyang Mun saw the pandemic as still a step forward in their 10-year plan.
For them, the last year-and-a-half has been a time of growth and learning with an all-digital season. However, the two feel good about being able — so far — to curate ABO’s upcoming fifth season for live audiences again.
“Our next season is going to be held at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in the Arts District to show an example of our growth and how serious of an organization we are,” Executive Director Cantu, 38, explained via email.
Still, despite the fact that ABO is now going into its fifth season with a trail positive reviews since 2017, the organization is still working to get the word out on its contribution to the local arts community. And as the only Baroque opera in town, it’s been a challenging journey for the somewhat grassroots company. Foremost among those challenges, the founders say, are the perceptions that come up when someone mentions “opera.”
“I think people think it’s the stuffiest form of music, and when they hear ‘Baroque opera,’ they think that it’s probably even more stuffy,” Taeyang Mun, the 36-year-old artistic director said by phone.
In reality, he insists, it isn’t stuffy at all — at least not the way ABO does it. Taeyang Mun described it more as going to a small play, and both describe their shows as immersive and intimate in true Baroque style.
People will get the chance to experience that when ABO’s fifth season begins in January, with shows at Hamon Hall inside the Winspear Opera House at AT&T’s Performance Center.
When Cantu and Taeyang Mun started the company, the two musicians both felt there was a need for this type of opera, and they wanted to deliver it in the way it would have been seen and heard back in the 17th and 18th centuries when the style came en vogue in music, architecture and art — characterized by grandeur, ornate details, luxe and emotional exuberance.
“We present our performances in a way that a Baroque audience would have heard them,” Cantu explained in the call. “All of the music and singing and instruments are from, or are replicas of, that period, and our staging, while sometimes modern, is authentic to the style.”
Also, with opera, there’s the idea of big lavish sets, grand venues and black ties. ABO veers the opposite way.
“People love that we can offer a more intimate setting. You can see the actors’ faces and expressions in our performance spaces,” Cantu said.
For Smith, that’s what makes ABO so distinctive.
“We tell people to come as you are. We are definitely not your standard idea of what opera is,” he said. “It’s a different experience, and we find that people, especially millennials, are looking for something different and trending away from big halls into these smaller offerings like us or chamber concerts.
“That intimacy is what makes this so special.”
The company is making strides in its 10-year plan. ABO was welcomed into OPERA America and has found funding through the city as well as a growing subscriber base.
And regardless of the challenges ABO faces as a small theater company, Cantu and Taeyang Mun feel their timing is on point with the company.
“I told my university professors at UNT that I wanted to do Baroque opera. and I was told that I had to move to Europe to do that,” Taeyang Mun said. “I traveled the country doing that, but I think the time was right when we started this five years ago, because Dallas has the talent to support it.”
While the two have built strong relationships with the local acting and music communities for its productions, they have been able to include a diverse roster that strongly represents the LGBTQ community.
“Not only is ABO LGBT-run and founded, but we have players and singers who are trans, nonbinary, gay and POC,” Taeyang Mun said. “We want to show that the arts are diverse — even in opera.”
For more information, visit baroqueopera.org.
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Upcoming from American Baroque Opera:
• Jan. 15-16: North American Premier of Alcyone
• March 26-27: Acis and Galatea
• May 21-22: Apollo and Hyacinthus
All performances held in Hamon Hall at the Winspear Opera House.
Tickets on sale for each show Sept. 13.
