Go behind the scenes In Conversation with mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack and In Song director Elena Park

San Francisco, CA -  San Francisco Opera’s award-winning In Song video portrait series continues with its eighth episode, In Song: Daniela Mack. Filmed on location in Buenos Aires, Argentina, In Song: Daniela Mack features the captivating mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack. Released on the heels of her “lustrous and keenly expressive” (The New Yorker) performances this past June as the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in the Company’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), In Song: Daniela Mack is free and available now at sfopera.com, You Tube (English), You Tube (Spanish), Facebook and Instagram.

In a moving journey of discovery, reconnection and riveting music, this new In Song episode unfolds on the streets of Buenos Aires as Daniela Mack returns to the homeland she left at the age of 6. Filmed just prior to the start of rehearsals for El último sueño de Frida y Diego, Mack traces memories of her childhood, reunites with her family and loved ones and shares music by tango master Astor Piazzolla and 19th-century composer Pauline Viardot. In no-holds-barred performances of Piazzolla’s "Yo Soy María" (I Am Maria) and "Los Pájaros Perdidos” (The Lost Birds), Mack’s powerhouse ensemble features bandleader and arranger JP Jofre on bandoneon, Pablo Estigarribia on piano and Lucía Luque on violin, filmed at Club Thelonious in the Palermo neighborhood. For Viardot's "Havanaise," captured at Palacio Sans Souci in the northern part of Buenos Aires, she performs with Teatro Colón pianist Iván Rutkauskas.

A former Merola Opera Program participant and San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack made her Company debut as Lucienne in Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt in 2008, followed by Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope and, in three different seasons, Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, including the Company’s return from the pandemic shutdown with drive-in performances at the Marin Center. Mack returned in June 2023 to portray Frida Kahlo in the Company’s latest co-commission, Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), garnering acclaim for her “fiery, vocally robust performance” (San Francisco Chronicle). Recent engagements also include returns to Opera Philadelphia as Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello, Detroit Opera as Federico García Lorca in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performances of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West. Mack returns to San Francisco Opera next June, reprising her portrayal of Rosmira in Partenope in a cast that includes her husband, tenor Alek Shrader, as Emilio.

San Francisco Opera’s In Song is a series of intimate video portraits featuring remarkable artists who draw us into their distinctive spheres through stories and song—from classical to bluegrass, spirituals to mariachi and spanning Zulu, Samoan and Egyptian music. Launched in March 2021, the series invites us into the singers’ worlds to see how they express themselves through deep connections to song. Episodes featuring sopranos Amina Edris, Meigui Zhang and Pretty Yende; mezzo-sopranos Jamie Barton (featuring banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck), J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack; and tenors Arturo Chacón-Cruz and Pene Pati are available at sfopera.com/insong. The series, produced in collaboration with Lumahai Productions and directed by Elena Park, was recognized at the 2022 Webby Awards as a Webby People’s Voice Award winner for Best Music Video Series & Channel and was a finalist for best series in this category. In Song is made possible, in part, through the Creative Edge Fund, with major support from Carol and Dixon Doll, Peter Fenton and Kate Greer and Bob Ellis.

Go behind the scenes and learn more at In Conversation with Daniela Mack. Mack joins In Song director and executive producer Elena Park to discuss the creation of the episode and share more about her musical and personal journey, joined by her husband, tenor Alek Shrader. Watch In Conversation with Daniela Mack at sfopera.com/insong.