Enrique Carreón-Robledo truly believes that his fate was
written in the stars. He did not come from a musical family, and it was by
chance that he stumbled upon an old gentleman sitting outside near his home in Mexico, teaching
children how to play the mandolin. Mesmerized, the young Carreón-Robledo
persuaded his parents to buy him a mandolin, and shortly after he began
teaching himself how to read music. Soon enough, he was instructing all the
children how to play so that he could form his very first orchestra.
Today, as a Crystal Globe nominee for Best Music Direction in Opera and Ballet and having worked
internationally with orchestras across four continents, Enrique Carreón-Robledo
has chosen to relocate from London, England to settle in Houston as Opera in
the Heights’ newest artistic director.
What he does: With
a background in opera, ballet, and symphonic repertoire, Enrique was appointed
artistic director in April of 2011 when he was still living in London. He spent
the next five months commuting before finally deciding to make the big move
across the Atlantic in September. At Opera in the Heights (or more commonly
know as Oh!), Enrique is in charge of four productions per season, not to
mention other freelance engagements during the time he is not performing with
the company. The company and Enrique have already completed two productions: La Fille du Regiment (Daughter of the
Regiment) and Cosi Fan Tutte, and are
now working to put on Anna Bolena, an
incredibly powerful opera that is about to have a renaissance.
The company and Enrique only started rehearsing two weeks
ago, and will be opening January 25 and are already in a heavy rehearsal schedule, “Like today, I already had five hours of music
rehearsals and we are about to do a run through of the opera,” says Carreón-Robledo.
What inspires him: It’s
very simple: it’s the artists themselves.
“One reason why I came to work for this company is because
in its mission, it’s implicit that it is a company for the artists. That
element of human contact working with all the artists is what makes my work so
inspiring. Anything that I feel, they will take away and benefit from, whether
it is from a coaching session or a rehearsal or a production they do with me as
a conductor. It’s what keeps me going — it’s what makes me want to continue to
do that.”
If not this, then
what? Enrique cannot imagine doing anything unrelated to music, if anything
else at all. His passion for this art form is what drives him and allows him to
become one of the most powerful and influential maestros of his generation.
“I have always told people who have considered this as a
career choice: If there is something that makes you just as happy as playing or
singing or conducting, give it a chance. Explore it, because it is a very
difficult field, and to me, the only way to survive the odds is if you love it
like you love nothing else.”
If not here, then
where? Carreón-Robledo came to the city for the work.
“It’s the company. If this company was
anywhere else in the world, that’s where I would be. I wanted to be the
artistic director of an opera company, and if this hadn’t come true, I think it
would have been in some other place with some other company. If where the work
and where the opportunity to work with the artists the way I just described was
somewhere else, that’s where I would be.”
Whats next: After Anna Bolena comes to a closes on February 5th, Carreón-Robledo will begin almost
immediately with his work on Oh!’s next opera, Il Trovatore. In upcoming
seasons he will be working with various theater companies, ballet companies,
and orchestras, but there is a definite possibility for a long-term commitment
to Opera in the Heights.
“I believe in good faith that that was the intention from
both parts when I was hired: to be here for a long time, to really invest
myself into the company, to get the company to invest in my work because I
think they believe in it.”
More Creatives for 2012:
(In order of most recently published; click here for the full page).
More Creatives for 2012 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page).
Sandy Ewen, musician Camella Clements, puppeteer Wade Wilson, gallery owner Magid Salmi, photographer Carl Williams, playwright
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.