Lucia Lucas: Illuminating the Power of Creativity and Inclusion

Jennifer Williams interviews baritone and transgender activist Lucia Lucas. Hailed as “one of the most powerful and beautiful baritone voices you can hear,” American baritone Lucia Lucas is making waves on operatic stages internationally, with recent performances in Berlin, Torino, London, Dublin, Brussels, Korea, and the United States. She is the first transgender baritone to perform a principal operatic role in the United States and the first transgender baritone to appear with the English National Opera. She was slated to make her Metropolitan Opera debut this 2020-21 season, which, at the time of this recording, has been canceled due to the pandemic. We discuss her experience launching an international performance career while transitioning, her take on some of opera’s notoriously toxic masculine roles, and blueprints for how the arts can create more inclusive spaces for future generations of transgender artists.