DOLORES by Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch with West Edge Opera’s Aperture

In the wake of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Edge Opera launched Aperture, a series in which 8 creative teams as they compete for a $60k commission, and show the public the creative process along the way for all the teams in on online magazine called InFocus. One of the projects is Dolores, composed by Nicolas Benavides with a libretto by Marella Martin Koch. Wes essayed the role of union leader, advisor to Robert Kennedy, and ally to Dolores Huerta, Paul Schrade for the most recent edition of InFocus. More about Dolores: “On June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had just won the California primary due in large part to the work of Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers. Dolores is the story of this influential woman who was able to continue the fight for civil rights through the tragedy and disappointment of the loss of her candidate. The composer is a cousin to Huerta and has spent time with her, learning her story, which adds an extraordinary personal element to it.”