The US-Mexico Border: an Operatic Reflection

In 2022 Nicolas Benavides received a commission to compose a new opera for Music of Remembrance (MOR). The original mission of MOR involved remembering the Holocaust through music with concert performances, educational programs, recordings, and commissions of new works; but recently the organization has broadened its scope to encompass other injustices arising from prejudicial political situations. Benavides leveraged that broader scope in composing his new opera, entitled “Tres minutos” (three minutes). It received its first performance on May 15, 2022, performed at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. That performance was recorded on video, which is now available for viewing on a YouTube Web page.

The plot involves a sister (soprano Vanessa Isiguen) and brother (baritone José Rubio) who, through an accident of fate, have been separated by the US-Mexico border. The brother, Diego, is the older sibling, born in Mexico. However, his mother crossed the border when pregnant with Nila; and she was born in the United States, making her an American citizen. The narrative involves the United States allowing the border to be opened for all of three minutes to allow such separated families to reunited. The only other character is a US Border Patrol Agent, sung by tenor Brendan Tuohy. Benavides conducted a chamber ensemble consisting of clarinet (Laura DeLuca), violin (Mikhail Shmidt), viola (Susan Gulkis Assadi), cello (Walter Gray), bass (Jonathan Green), and piano (Jessica Choe).

Staging was directed by Erich Parce, working with a minimal set, which effectively established the separation between brother and sister. The duration was about 40 minutes, over the course of which the audience was subjected to a “deep dive” into how families separated by the border deal with the issue. To the credit of librettist Marella Martin Koch, the situation never devolves into violence. Both Nila and Diego are now mature adults, both painfully aware that violence (or, for that matter, even passive resistance) can only make the situation worse.

Sister (Vanessa Isiguen) and brother (José Rubio) embrace at the conclusion of their “tres minutos” encounter (screen shot from the YouTube video of the premiere performance of “Tres minutos”)

Ultimately, the climax of the opera is when viewers can experience how the siblings make the most of the short time allotted to them. Mind you, Koch’s libretto provides the observer with a rich account of both personalities. Thus, when they finally meet, that observer can appreciate not just the climax but also the frustration of the descent from that climax.

As the opera concludes, the attentive viewer will come away recognizing that there are (and may never be) any simple (or even viable) solutions to a situation in which a family is divided by a border that separates two decidedly different countries.