“This unique performance at TPT Studio A in Lowertown, St. Paul will feature a partially staged opera by Schubert Club Composer-in-Residence Reinaldo Moya with words by Caitlin Vincent.

The opera tells the story of Luis Garzón, a Mexican musician who immigrated to Minneapolis in 1886 and opened a small Mexican grocery store, or tienda, in St. Paul in the 1920s. While Luis had married an American woman and was fully integrated into Minneapolitan society, his store served as a community hub for the newest arrivals from Mexico, many of whom had fled the Mexican Revolution and now toiled in the sugar beet farms of rural Minnesota.

Tienda explores the immigrant experience: what must be left behind—and what cannot be forgotten—on the journey to a new home. This world premiere performance of Tienda is one of the highlights of Moya’s two-year residency with the Schubert Club.”

Natalia will be performing in the chorus, with members of Border CrosSing, as well as the Singers Of This Age (SOTA) from VocalEssence.