Mind Reels, the Lark’s special daytime documentary film series, returns with four captivating films, inviting you to participate in thoughtful discussion following the screening.
MAESTRA (2023)
Dir: Maggie Contreras
Follows five international women who participate in ‘La Maestra’, the only competition in the world for female orchestra conductors. Personal stories of survival in this one-of-a-kind event created to break another glass ceiling for women.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
NICOLE PAIEMENT
Internationally acclaimed conductor Nicole Paiement has performed with orchestras, festivals, and opera companies around the world, including the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana in Italy, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Atlanta Opera, L’Opéra de Montréal, and The Dallas Opera. Paiement is the Founder & Artistic Director of Opera Parallèle, a leading opera company based in San Francisco which is committed to contemporary works. Under her baton, Opera Parallèle has brought to the stage numerous world premieres, commissioned many operas, and reorchestrated several larger operatic works for chamber orchestras. Paiement has received numerous awards for her leadership and expertise in contemporary opera, including the “Champion of New Music” award from the American Composer’s Forum. Her work can be found on many recordings and spans a wide range of instrumental and operatic repertoire. In addition to being a leader in the world of contemporary music, Paiement is a specialist in early twentieth-century French music and regularly conducts music from the Baroque and Classical periods.
MARY CHUN
Conductor Mary Chun has been celebrated by Le Figaro for her unmatched “charm, energy, and allégresse” in leading the Paris premiere of John Adams’ hybrid opera Ceiling/Sky. A powerful force in a historically male-dominated field, Mary exemplifies the visionary leadership highlighted in Maestra, breaking boundaries and advocating for diverse, groundbreaking music-making. Known for her fierce commitment to elevating new American voices, she is the Principal Conductor of Earplay and Resident Music Director for Mercury Theater. She has worked with master composers such as John Adams, Tan Dun, and Libby Larsen to bring their music to life. Her artistic leadership shines in her extensive collaborations with rising star Napa composer Carla Lucero. This includes conducting the world premiere of Juana—commanding a complex fusion of Western European and ancient Aztec instruments to critical acclaim from the Los Angeles Times. Further pushing cross-cultural frontiers, she premiered and recorded Alice Ping Yee Ho’s Chinatown with City Opera Vancouver, directing a unique orchestra of Western classical instruments interfused with traditional Chinese instruments. Beyond conducting popular opera productions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Slovak Republic, she recently led West Edge Opera’s critically praised new opera, Dolores, honoring iconic farm-labor activist Dolores Huerta.
JESSICA BEJARANO
Jessica Bejarano is the Founder and Music Director of the San Francisco Philharmonic, Cover Conductor with San Francisco Symphony, Curator and Scholar in Residence with San Francisco Opera, and board member of the International Conductors’ Guild. She was featured on NBC’s The Today Show with Natalie Morales as the “Woman Breaking Barriers as a Trailblazing Symphony Conductor”. PBS News Hour Weekend also featured Jessica as an emerging female conductor and KQED named Jessica 1 of 10 artists to watch in KQED Arts’ Bay Brilliant Top 10 Artists of 2018. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) named Jessica 1 of 100 Honorees for 2023 for her contribution to the Arts in the Bay Area, San Francisco. Jessica has guest conducted the Classical Symphony in St. Petersburg Russia; Urbino Summer Orchestra in Urbino, Italy: Philharmonie Orchestra “Mihail Jora” Bacau, Romania; Ruse National Philharmonic, Ruse, Bulgaria; Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Republic; Antonio Soler Orquestra, San Lorenzo de Escorial, Spain; Falcon Symphony Orchestra, Falcon, Venezuela and various orchestras throughout the United States.