Shows
micro/Maker by Loose Leaf Transmissions050 - Where Craft Meets CollaborationNicolás Lell Benavides talks about what it means to compose for real people—and the accountability that comes with it. He and Tyler discuss how opera has reshaped his sense of collaboration, why trusting performers makes the music stronger, and how staying open to revision keeps the work alive. It’s a look inside the workshop: where artistry meets empathy and every choice counts.micro/Maker episodes release every Tuesday and Friday!Listen to music/Maker with Tyler Kline wherever you get podcasts, or at musicmakerpodcast.com.Support Loose Leaf...
2025-11-0711 min
For Good MeasureDa Capo Conversations 2.0 with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Sea NovaaFor Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)Episode 177: Da Capo Conversations 2.0 with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Sea NovaaLooking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!Today we revisit Nicolás Lell Benavides’ and Sea Novaa’s perspectives on their artistic process. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nicolás Lell Benavides and Sea Novaa, check them out here and here. Parts of this episode originally premiered in September 2022, click her...
2025-10-2011 min
WORK IN PROGRESS: Conversations with CreatorsComposer NICOLÁS LELL BENAVIDESNicolás Lell Benavides is an award-winning classical music composer and 2024-2025 Guggenheim Fellow. His new opera, “Dolores,” which is based on the life of activist Dolores Huerta, will have its New Mexico premiere at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Sunday, Oct. 26. In this episode, he speaks with Logan about his musical journey, his personal connection to Dolores Huerta and how music can inspire and communicate across cultural divides.If you enjoy our podcasts, please like and subscribe, and consider becoming a digital subscriber to the Albuquerque Journal, to help us continue to bring you more content like this...
2025-10-0729 min
Generation Justice9.14.25 Opera Southwest: Dolores!This week on GJ, we speak with composer Nicolás Lell Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch about the dedication that went into creating Southwest Opera: Dolores. An opera adaptation of Dolores Huerta’s life in 1968. We also bring you an interview with Dolores Huerta from March of this year.
Nicolás Lell Benavides is a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow and has received commissions from West Edge Opera/San Diego Opera/Opera Southwest/BroadStage (Dolores), Music of Remembrance, The Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, The New York Philharmonic/The Juilliard School, the LA Phil with Gustavo Dudamel, Eighth Blackbird, New Century Cham...
2025-09-1552 min
music/Maker with Tyler KlineEp. 034 - Letting the Story Lead the Music with Nicolás Lell BenavidesOn today’s episode of music/Maker with Tyler Kline, Tyler is joined by composer Nicolás Lell Benavides.Nicolás is a 2024–25 Guggenheim Fellow whose music has been commissioned by the LA Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, West Edge Opera, and many more. His work spans opera, orchestral, and chamber music, often drawing on cultural history, folk storytelling, and regional memory. Upcoming projects include Dolores, an opera about civil rights icon Dolores Huerta premiering in 2025, as well as new commissions for Eighth Blackbird, the LA Phil, and an album with Friction Quartet and mezzo-soprano Melind...
2025-07-242h 13
Modern NotebookModern Notebook for July 14, 2025On the next Modern Notebook with Tyler Kline: Inspired by dance, Daniel Pesca’s Gestures of Grace explores movement in sound — spinning, gliding, and unfolding with a sense of elegance and surprise. It’s a vibrant duo for flute and piano, written as a tribute to a long musical friendship.Then: The double bass takes center stage in Sarah Louise Bassingthwaighte’s Concerto for Double Bass, a sweeping three-movement work that explores sorrow, humor, and catharsis. From haunting harmonics to cheeky pizzicato to a blazing finale, it’s a full-spectrum portrait of sound and feeling.Also featu...
2025-07-141h 59
ClexicalEp. 14: Interview with Nicolas Bell BenavidesNicolás Lell Benavides’ (Ben-ah-VEE-des) music has been praised for finding “…a way to sketch complete characters in swift sure lines…” (Anne Midgette, Washington Post) and cooking up a “jaunty score [with] touches of cabaret, musical theater and Latin dance.” (Tim Smith, OPERA NEWS). He has received commissions from groups like The New York Philharmonic/The Juilliard School, Eighth Blackbird, New Century Chamber Orchestra with Daniel Hope, SFCM Orchestra with Edwin Outwater, West Edge Opera, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Music of Remembrance, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Fry Street Quartet, Friction Quartet, and Khemia Ensemble. His music has received suppor...
2024-06-0332 minFor Good MeasureDa Capo Conversations with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Erika ObaFor Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)Episode 70: Da Capo Conversations with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Erika ObaLooking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!Today we revisit Nicolás Lell Benavides’ and Erika Oba’s perspectives on Identity, culture, and music making. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nicolás Lell Benavides and Erika Oba, check them out here and here. Parts of this episode originall...
2023-10-0208 minFor Good MeasureDa Capo Conversations with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marcus NorrisFor Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)Episode 65: Da Capo Conversations with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marcus NorrisLooking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!Today we revisit Nicolás Lell Benavides’ and Marcus Norris’ perspectives on performing and composing in different genres, and whether the genres feel separate or fluid. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marcus Norris, check them out here a...
2023-09-1105 minFor Good MeasureNicolas Lell Benavides - Part 3For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)Episode 18: Nicolas Lell Benavides (part 3)Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!In this week’s episode, we’re joined once again/ more by Nicolas Lell Benavides, who talks about his artistic goals and his experience as a composer navigating the pandemic and moving from SF to LA.. Plus, as a special bonus, we meet his adorable dog “Pepito!” If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more...
2022-10-0311 minFor Good MeasureNicolas Lell Benavides - Part 2For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)Episode 17: Nicolas Lell Benavides (part 2) Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!In this week’s episode, we’re joined again by Nicolas Lell Benavides, who talks about how growing up in the New Mexico and the Southwest influences his identity as a composer. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nicolas Lell Benavides, check him out here: ww.nickbenavides.com . Parts of this epi...
2022-09-2611 minFor Good MeasureNicolas Lell Benavides - Part 1For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)Episode 16: Nicolas Lell Benavides (part 1)Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!In this week’s episode, we talk to Nicolas Lell Benavides about his diverse compositional styles, love of composing opera, and primary influences, specifically composer/pianist Gabriela Lena Frank. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nicolas Lell Benavides, check him out here: www.nickbenavides.com . Parts of this episode originally prem...
2022-09-1908 min
Inwood Art Works On AirArtist Spotlight with Marella Martin KochMarella Martin Koch is an Inwood-based librettist, director, and playwright that has been praised by the press for her “cleverness in constructing humor for opera” (from DC Theatre Scene) for her 20-minute opera Pepito; written with composer Nicolas Lell Benavides, for Washington National Opera at its Kennedy Center premiere in 2019. Marella also wrote the lyrics for Marianne Dashwood, Songs of Love & Misery and Elinor Dashwood, two song cycles written with the composer Aferdian and commissioned by mezzo-soprano Meagan Martin. Furthermore, she has full-length operatic works in development, which include an adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility with Aferdian, the West Edge Op...
2022-02-1738 min
Words First: Talking Text in OperaMarella Martin Koch and the Genesis of DoloresKeturah speaks with librettist, playwright, and director, Marella Martin Koch, who recently won the inaugural West Edge Opera Aperture commission, alongside her writing partner, composer Nicolas Lell Benavides. Their work, DOLORES, about worker’s rights fighter, Dolores Huerta, will hopefully have its debut at West Edge in 2023. They discuss the genesis and creation of this opera, as well as her time at the American Opera Initiative at the Kennedy Center, and her deep dive into Jane Austen’s SENSE & SENSIBILITY with composer, Aferdian.Marella Martin Koch: https://www.marellamartinkoch.com/aboutNicolas Lell Benavides: https://nicolasbenavides.com/
2022-01-0352 min