The Santa Fe Opera has announced the members of its 2019 Season Apprentice Program for Theater Technicians.

The season’s program is comprised of technicians, designers, and craftspeople from across New Mexico, the wider United States, South America, England,  and China.

This year the 78 individuals who were selected, were picked from a pool of more than 900 applicants through a competitive screening and interview process by the Opera’s Production Department Heads.

The Sant Fe Opera picks Technical Apprentices to perform a variety of backstage functions within one of seven separate running crews: Audio/Visual, Costumes, Electrics, Production/Music Services, Properties, Scenery, and Wigs and Makeup. The crews carry out the majority of work on daily changeovers between the season’s five operas.

Past Apprentices have included Ruth E. Carter, who made history as the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on “Black Panther” and Shawna Lucey who will returns to direct “The Pearl Fishers” and JAX Messenger who will make his Santa Fe Opera debut as the Lighting Designer for “Così Fan Tutte.”