Character Interview – Erica Miner
Violinist turned author ERICA MINER interviews her character Julia Kogan.
About Staged for Murder
In this third novel in Erica’s “Opera Mystery” series, young violinist Julia heads to the San Francisco Opera with her significant other, Larry, and their five-year-old daughter, Rachel. Julia is under inordinate pressure, replacing ailing concertmaster, Ben, who has suffered serious injuries in a car accident. But was it an accident?
When one prominent company member becomes the victim of a grisly murder, Julia’s natural curiosity thrusts her into the thick of the investigation. Doing so, she unwittingly places herself in danger. But Julia isn’t the only one whose life is in peril.
Staged for Murder gives an insider view of the inevitable ego-driven conflicts and emotionally fraught tensions inherent in running one of the world’s most prestigious opera houses. Prepare yourself to be drawn inexorably into her engrossing account of deadly deeds behind the big gold curtain in the City by the Bay.
We asked Erica if she could interview Julia for us, and to our delight, she said yes!
Erica: Thanks for meeting with me here in the orchestra lounge, Julia. I know how busy you are, practicing your orchestra parts and studying the opera libretti.
Julia: Thanks for using the proper Italian word for the “little books” that have lyrics to the operas.
Erica: You’ve become known for studying the libretti for every opera you play.
Julia: That’s what my mentor, Abel Trudeau, trained me to do, before he was…
Julia’s eyes begin to tear up.
Erica: I’m so sorry, Julia, I know his passing at the Met Opera was unbelievably traumatic for you. Are you okay?
Julia: It’s been six years. You’d think I’d have gotten over it by now. But Abel was like a second father to me.
Erica: You must have been proud to help solve his…death.
Julia: It was the right thing to do. Especially when Sidney, my closest friend in the orchestra, was accused of Abel’s…murder. There. I said it. Abel was murdered. I had to help clear Sid’s name. Now he’s gone, too.
Erica: You’ve suffered a lot of loss in your young life. But Katie always has your back.
Julia: We’ve been BFFs since Juilliard Music School. She’s always there for me. Boosts me up when I’m down. We’re like sisters.
Erica: She helped you out when you got entangled in that murder investigation at Santa Fe Opera?
Julia: Yes. Our friend Marin, a famous opera singer, was accused in the murder of another singer, Emilia. Can you imagine? Everybody hated Emilia. But I know Marin. She is not capable of such a violent act. I proved it, too. The killer wasn’t too happy with me. But I survived.
Erica: Tell me about Larry and Rachel.
Julia: Larry and I met when he was investigating Abel’s murder. We did not get along, until I showed him how my insider savvy could help uncover the killer. After that…well, we hit it off. Rachel was…a surprise. I thought I was too young for motherhood, but she has proved me wrong. Except that she argues with everything I tell her when I’m teaching her the violin.
Erica: What is it like to be the first violin, or concertmaster, of the opera orchestra?
Julia: Enormously pressured. I’m responsible for keeping the whole orchestra in line when the conductor is focusing on the singers and the stage. The guy I’m replacing, Ben, is an absolute legend in the company. A tough act to follow. And we’re doing Wagner’s Ring, which is the most challenging opera cycle that exists.
Erica: The one with the famous “Ride of the Valkyries”.
Julia: Right. It’s hugely difficult, but I’m on top of it. At least I thought I was until that godawful stage director, Yves Chauvet, got on my case. He’s making my life an absolute hell.
Erica: That’s a powerful statement. What has he done?
Julia glowers.
Julia: Accused me of sabotaging the entire production by lagging behind the singers—on purpose. Something I would never do. Humiliated me in front of the whole company. It was so unfair. Now we’re bitter enemies. Turns out I’m not the only one who has issues with him. Pretty much everyone in the company does. He hasn’t got one fan among them. He gives French people a bad name.
Erica: If he’s so unpopular, how does he get hired to direct something as important as the Ring?
Julia: How would I know? I’m the new kid on the block. But I have heard that he’s angling to replace the general director. What a nerve. I hope I never encounter him outside the theatre. I wouldn’t be able to hold back my vitriol. I’d…I’d strangle him with one of my violin strings.
Julia continues to brood. But her scowl disappears when a girl, about five years old, wearing an “I Love the Ring” T-shirt, runs up to Julia and throws her arms around her, squeezing tight. Julia, laughing, squeezes back.
Julia: Did you have fun at the Music Library, Rachel?
Rachel nods. Julia turns to Erica.
Julia: This little rascal is my daughter, Rachel. Rachel, meet Erica.
Rachel gives Erica a shy smile.
Erica: She’s adorable, Julia.
Julia: Don’t let that smile fool you. She’s too smart for her own good.
Julia looks up to see Larry hovering in the doorway, grinning. She turns to Erica.
Julia: I’m sorry, I have to go. Family calls.
Erica: I totally understand. I look forward to listening to you at the next rehearsal.
Julia: [Laughing] Well, don’t listen too hard. Some of those solos in Scene One of Das Rheingold are tricky.
Erica watches as Julia and Rachel walk off, hand in hand.
—
ERICA MINER, AUTHOR
Former Metropolitan Opera violinist Erica Miner is now an award-winning author, screenwriter, arts journalist and lecturer, who actively contributes to major arts websites and magazines. Erica’s debut novel, Travels with my Lovers, won the Fiction Prize in the Direct from the Author Book Awards.
The first two novels in her “Operatic Mystery” series, Murder in the Pit and Death By Opera, chronicle assassination and intrigue at the Met Opera and Santa Fe Opera. The third novel in the series, Staged for Murder, which takes place at San Francisco Opera, was released on November 15, 2020.
As an opera expert, Erica is a regular presenter for the Osher Lifelong Living Institute at University of Washington and University of California San Diego, Creative Retirement Institute at Edmonds College (Seattle area) and Wagner Societies on both coasts.
Find out more about Erica on her website https://www.ericaminer.com/
Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/EmwrtrErica
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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