We recently connected with Aiden Feltkamp and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Aiden thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I love to write librettos, which are texts for new operas. It’s not a career that I ever heard anything about before I tried it for myself, but I’m so glad that I pursued it.

I began my classical music career as a cellist and started to study as an opera singer in college. I continued to study and perform opera professionally for about a decade before I realized that I had to pursue a medical gender transition for the sake of my mental health. Transitioning medically is not necessary for any transgender and/or nonbinary person, but it was essential for me. The transition would radically alter my singing voice, so I knew that I had to find another way to engage with opera until I could re-train my new voice.

I had been writing poetry and short fiction for years, getting published in small literary magazines, and I’d made money throughout my schooling as a music critic and reporter for small=medium newspapers. As an opera singer, I’d worked with contemporary opera and loved the experience of bringing something completely new to the stage. I figured that I could try my hand at writing opera texts, and a few generous composers worked with me on my first few projects. I quickly discovered that I loved engaging with opera in this way, and I’ve been writing librettos ever since.

One of the driving forces behind my writing is the desire to highlight characters from backgrounds that are usually left out of opera. For example, nonbinary and trans characters are almost non-existent in opera even though opera very often plays with gender-bending and cross-dressing. By writing these characters into my operas, trans and nonbinary singers have the opportunity to play characters that are more aligned with their own gender and experience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into opera because I love stories and I love music. Opera so deftly combines the two, and the outcome is a larger-than-life experience of visual, auditory, and emotional depth. When I was performing opera, I loved to interpret the stories and characters that others had created. Now, as a writer, I’m able to bring my own creations to life on the stage. It’s incredibly thrilling to see it happen in real time.

As I’m writing an opera, I work closely with the composer, the singers, and the production team for the opera’s world premiere. That collaborative effort invigorates me and strengthens the final outcome of the opera. Since I was a performer myself, I’m able to work with my collaborators on an in-depth level that some other librettists cannot.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I really love the unpredictability of being a creative. I never know what my next project will be. I can go from researching and translating erotic lesbian German poetry to reading a long list of nonfiction books about space travel. Every project brings new challenges and new opportunities for growth. I despise stagnation, and being a creative makes it hard to stagnate.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want to portray characters and stories that people haven’t experienced yet. And I want those new experiences to foster empathy and activism for marginalized communities. Much of my work is focused on the experiences of gender-marginalized people, whether they’re queer cisgender women or transgender nonbinary people.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aidenfeltkamp.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/transcherubino

Image Credits
Heather Bobeck, Aumna Iqbal, Tommy Venus