BY LOGAN ROYCE BEITMEN JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

When the opera “Dolores,” about labor organizer Dolores Huerta, premiered in Oakland, California, this August, the San Francisco Chronicle called it “triumphant,” “musically transporting” and “undeniably timely.”

Opera Southwest (OSW) is now bringing the opera to New Mexico, Huerta’s home state, with four performances at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, beginning Sunday, Oct. 26.

“In the past few years, I have come back to telling stories about the American Southwest that I don’t see on the major concert stages from LA to New York,” Nicolás Lell Benavides, the opera’s composer, said. “There are other composers who explore Latinidad in their music, and they should always be lauded and praised, but I am so proud to be part of that movement of finding stories in the American Southwest that are worth telling.”

Huerta co-founded the first major farmworkers’ union in the United States, the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers union.

By Logan Beitman

Nicolás 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. Follow the like below for a discount on a digital subscription. http://www.abqjournal.com/subscribe/a...

Dolores, composed by Nicolás Lell Benavides with a libretto by Marella Martin Koch, The opera focuses on Chicano Civil Rights activist Dolores Huerta, her work with the United Farm Workers during the Delano Grape Strike, and her advocacy to get Robert F. Kennedy elected. Source: https://www.operasouthwest.org/operas

ALBUQUERQUE — In collaboration with Opera Southwest, the National Hispanic Cultural Center is proud to present an opera based on the remarkable life of labor icon and New Mexico native Dolores Huerta. Dolores takes the stage starting Sunday, Oct. 26. 

“This play goes to the core of our pride as New Mexicans and gente, Dolores is an icon for standing together with all people demanding dignity and access to justice,” said National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) Executive Director Zack Quintero. “This production also showcases New Mexicans at its center, as the writer, the inspiration, and director all hail from the Land of Enchantment. The NHCC has been and will continue to be a home for shared celebration of our culture and history.” 

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.

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 Chamber Orchestra, and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music with support from the likes of the Barlow Endowment, Opera America, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Marella Martin Koch is a librettist, playwright, and lyricist whose work explores agency and its absence. Her trio of operas with composer Nicolás Lell Benavides includes Pepito, Tres minutos, and Dolores. Recognized by Operawire for her “lean and well-trimmed” storytelling “full of nuance and emotional pull,” her theatrical writing has been produced in over one-fourth of the United States. When she is not writing, she enjoys working with high school, college, and graduate students in New York City and across the country.

By Mia Casas

Dolores Huerta is a Chicana activist icon from New Mexico. Her influence in the 1960s farm worker strikes created waves across the country and ultimately led to the creation of the National Farm Workers Association. Her story is not unheard of, but a young composer from New Mexico has brought this slice of time to life with a contemporary opera piece.

Nicolás Benavides is originally from Los Ranchos in Albuquerque and has collected a variety of music degrees from schools across California. He spoke with KUNM about the creation of his newest opera.

By Melissa Torres (video+article)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Coming this fall to the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the legacy of labor leader Dolores Huerta brought to life on stage. This revolutionary opera closely follows how Huerta shaped the farm workers’ movement of the mid-twentieth century. “This is a truly American story about American heroism, and I will continue to say that because it’s true,” emphasized composer of Dolores, Nicolás Benavides.

By Joshua Kosman

““The strongest argument in favor of Dolores’ catchall approach, though, is Benavides’ resourceful and wonderfully eclectic score, skillfully conducted by Mary Chun. Wherever the story turns, Benavides stands ready to infuse it with just the musical expression it needs. When Chavez (bass-baritone Phillip Lopez) endangers his own life by embarking on a hunger strike to further the union cause, he gets a vivid leitmotif associated with personal sacrifice. The hard-bitten Itliong (baritone Rolfe Dauz) declaims in short, punchy bursts of tough-guy dialogue; Nixon (tenor Sam Faustine) sings a glib, slightly nauseating waltz. There are mariachi strains and potent choruses, a sweetly ingratiating duet for Dolores and Ethel Kennedy (soprano Chelsea Hollow) in which they bond over the tribulations of motherhood, and a sudden burst of horrifying noise in the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination.”

By Michael Zwiebach

West Edge Opera unveiled another triumphant world premiere, opening its season with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch’s opera “Dolores.” Telling the story of a pivotal year in the life of labor activist Dolores Huerta, the show is dramatically tight and musically transporting — a work made to last, though it’s also undeniably timely.
…
“Dolores”has the frisson of a masterfully paced thriller — there’s not an extra word sung. Benavides’ score keeps the story on the boil with sharp rhythms in the vocal lines, and a gamut of styles and emotions. The composer and librettist are not above adding comedy and dance into the mix…. Benavides’ orchestration sounds much more opulent than its 15-player ensemble would suggest. His accompaniments are varied but also rhythmically layered, and conductor Mary Chun extracted every ounce of juice from this expansive score.

By Michael Anthonio

“There was a lot to recommend in Benavides’ music, from his assured mode of juggling many musical genres (jazz, musical theater, Latin, and even mariachi influences), his unusual scoring for the tiny orchestra (which included electric guitar), and, particularly, his ability to achieve a balance between the heavy and light moments by peppering the score with many humorous and almost comical scenes…”

By Alex Heigl

Composition grad Nicolás Lell Benavides is behind the opera, which features five SFCM alumni in seven of the opera's main roles.

By Tom Jacobs (cross post with SF Classical Voice)

The nation is tense, and California’s Central Valley farm fields have become an unlikely flash point. The workers — mostly immigrants — who harvest the fruits and vegetables that feed much of the country are scared and angry. They labor to the point of physical exhaustion for low pay. Protests against these conditions are organized and soon gain widespread support.

This may sound like a dispatch from the front lines of 2025, a year that’s been marked by the Trump administration’s immigration raids and arrests across the state’s agricultural industry. But it’s also the historical backdrop for Dolores Huerta, who in the mid-1960s spearheaded a nationwide boycott of table grapes in solidarity with striking farmworkers. Alongside fellow labor leaders Cesar Chavez and Larry Itliong, she played an integral role in the era’s civil rights movement.

By Michael Zwiebach

West Edge Opera unveiled another triumphant world premiere, opening its season with Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Martin Koch’s opera “Dolores.” Telling the story of a pivotal year in the life of labor activist Dolores Huerta, the show is dramatically tight and musically transporting — a work made to last, though it’s also undeniably timely.
…
“Dolores”has the frisson of a masterfully paced thriller — there’s not an extra word sung. Benavides’ score keeps the story on the boil with sharp rhythms in the vocal lines, and a gamut of styles and emotions. The composer and librettist are not above adding comedy and dance into the mix…. Benavides’ orchestration sounds much more opulent than its 15-player ensemble would suggest. His accompaniments are varied but also rhythmically layered, and conductor Mary Chun extracted every ounce of juice from this expansive score.

By Emma Garcia
Watch our first opera dispatch! Labor rights icon Dolores Huerta is commemorated in a new opera at @westedgeopera in Oakland, CA. Written by @NLBenavides and @marellawrites, the production opened August 2 and returns August 10 & 16. It tells the story of Dolores’ leadership in the 1968 Delano Grape Strike. We spoke with doloreshuerta about today’s fight for justice and asked composer Nicolás Lell Benavides how opera connects to Mexican cultural traditions.

By Caroline Crawford

“…In West Edge’s premiere, created in collaboration with BroadStage in Santa Monica, Opera Southwest, San Diego Opera and Campo Santo at The Magic Theatre, composer Nicolás Lell Benavides’ pulsing, percussive, melodic music drives the point home. The persistent theme performed by a 16-piece orchestra led by Mary Chun has the tonal heft of a constant march which the excellent chorus brings home again and again… “

By Michael Strickland

“…Benavides is an extraordinarily sophisticated composer and he offered up complex, varied music that was performed brilliantly by a 16-person chamber orchestra led by conductor Mary Chun.”

COVER STORY By Janis Haashe for East Bay Express and East Bay Magazine

At 95, Dolores Huerta could rest on her laurels with no reproaches. Labor leader, tireless fighter for immigrant rights and civil rights, as well as feminist, Huerta has continued her work for decades. 

But, said Nicolás Lell Benavides, composer of the new opera, Dolores, Huerta knows there is always more to do. The fight for justice is ongoing. And even when a life-altering tragedy occurs, Huerta does not give up, but finds a way to persevere…

By Azucena Rasilla

Berkeley’s West Edge Opera is kicking off its 46th season in August with three performances at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center of a show based on the life of one of the Bay Area’s iconic civil rights leaders. 

The opening night for Dolores, by composer Nicolás Lell Benavides, with a libretto by Marella Martin Koch, is on Aug. 2. The muse for the new production, Dolores Huerta, is expected to be in attendance. The opening night performance will be followed by a fundraiser reception at Lake Chalet with Huerta for the Dolores Huerta Foundation and the United Farm Workers Union.