“Tenor Holden Madagame, 28, is part of a new wave of transgender opera singers,” writes Michael Cooper in Thursday’s (7/11) New York Times. “Trained as a mezzo-soprano, he risked his singing career when he transitioned several years ago and began taking testosterone, which lowers and alters the voice—a voice he had spent years fine-tuning for opera…. ‘I thought, … I would rather enjoy my life, and pursue singing if it happens. I didn’t know if I’d be able to,’ [Madagame says].… It turned out that he could. Now he is one of several transgender singers who are beginning to make their mark … either with the help of hormones or through retraining. Others kept the voices they had built their careers on—even if it meant continuing to perform in the gender they had left behind…. Opera itself is beginning to change: The most-produced new opera in North America in some recent seasons has been ‘As One,’ a transgender coming-of-age story.” Also profiled in the story are Lucia Lucas, a transgender woman who continues to sing baritone; mezzo-soprano Liz Bouk, a transgender man; and mezzo-soprano/soprano Breanna Sinclairé, a transgender woman. Read Symphony magazine’s article about the growing representation of LGBTQ+ composers, musicians, and audiences at orchestras.
Posted July 12, 2019
Photo of Lucia Lucas by Shawn Brackbill / New York Times
