It's impossible to listen to this music and not move something. It's so upbeat. It's so melodic.

What we're doing is not just for the music. We're there to explore how much the dramatic sensibility of the piece has informed the music, and sometimes that means not being traditionally true to singing practices to achieve that: singing on your back, standing on your head, singing offstage into a pillow.

The irony is that I was a single mother, and I raised five kids by myself and put myself through school. I bought my first house in 1999 -- that was a very big deal for me -- and now I have to sell it, only because they won't hire Americans. It's devastating.

There's an awful lot of talent not being tapped into.

I talked about salary with a company last week, and they were paying between $30 and $35 an hour. In August I was making $45 an hour.

All proceeds go directly to providing Merced with simply sumptuous symphonic music.