Lucia Lucas has taken one of the most difficult paths to her American professional opera debut. She moved to Europe a decade ago as Lucas Harbour, established a career as a baritone in regional houses, then decided in 2013 to transition to female. Now a transgender baritone, she will make her U.S. debut as the title character in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” at the Tulsa Opera in performances Friday and Sunday. Tobias Picker, the composer who is Tulsa Opera’s artistic director, auditioned her in February 2018 for a planned transgender opera after discovering Lucas’ clips on YouTube and sending her an email. While Lucas’ mother has seen many of her performances, her father planned to make the trip to Oklahoma.

Source: National Post May 02, 2019 19:30 UTC