By Megan Robertson

Bundled up from dealing with the fog and cold of a brisk September morning, on Sept. 14, museum goers crowded inside the galleries of the Legion of Honor to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with a “Celebration of Bay Area Latine Composers.”

Open to the public as part of the museum’s Free Saturdays program, Dominican-American mezzo-soprano vocalist Melisa Bonetti Luna performed four Spanish-language pieces from contemporary Bay Area Latine composers.

“I always program new works by Latin composers everywhere that I go. I said, ‘Why don’t we feature all contemporary Latine works, but let’s make it local composers,’” Bonetti Luna said.

In collaboration with Ópera Cultura, a San Jose-based opera company focusing on Latine performance, Bonetti Luna – who is also a resident at the San Jose Opera – landed on three composers whose work she would perform: Héctor Armienta, Carla Lucero and Nicolás Lell Benavides.

Ópera Cultura Executive Director Sandra Raquel Bengochea was the emcee of the event.

“It’s a fantastic kickoff to Hispanic Latin American Heritage Month,” she said. “It’s really wonderful to see our stories.”

The performance not only marked the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, but also Ópera Cultura’s first event in San Francisco.

“As a Latina, it’s important to me to hear Latine compositions in this high kind of level,” Bonetti Luna said. “This is a beautiful fine arts museum, and all of their work belongs here, next to this beautiful art. They’re worthy of beautiful spaces. They’re worthy of being heard.”

Maria Egoavil, manager of public programs at Legion of Honor and de Young museums, said this is what their programming is all about – exposing visitors to different kinds of art and bringing in residents who may not be frequent museum goers.

“A lot of our focus on Free Saturdays is really strengthening our ties with our local communities, making sure people know that the museums are accessible and really a representation of all the Bay Area has to offer,” Egoavil said.

As a former Outer Richmond District resident, Egoavil finds innovative programming important in bringing neighborhood residents into the museum.

“Sometimes museums can feel a little bit distant, but Free Saturdays, I think, is really about opening those channels of accessibility,” Egoavil said. “Perhaps the collections don’t speak to you, but perhaps the program does.

“We’re doing a lot of Latin Heritage programming, but we also want to support local organizations. We want to use our space to uplift what they’re doing in the community.”

Some audience members came specifically for the performance, while others, like Nina Shulman, arrived at the museum for the artwork and were pleasantly surprised by the program.

“That was a bonus,” Shulman said after the program. “She has a very impressive voice.”

The audience seemed to be enthralled by Bonetti Luna, who was accompanied by San Francisco pianist Marika Yasuda. Multiple attendees could be seen wiping tears away as Bonetti Luna hauntingly sang her final song, “Quien te ayuda,” (who helps you) from composer Carla Lucero’s Spanish-opera “Las Tres Mujeres de Jerusalén,” (the Three Women of Jerusalem). Based on the passion of Christ, Bonetti Luna performed a scene in which Mary sees her son, Jesus, upon the cross.

Bonetti Luna called out into the audience, “Who helps you,” seemingly imploring for someone, anyone, to come to her aid. The powerful composition comes from Carla Lucero, an internationally renowned composer, who has had her operas commissioned and performed by the L.A. Opera, Opera Paralléle and the Hawai’i Opera Theatre. Lucero found it “really amazing to see” Bonetti Luna’s performance.

“My work is usually really controversial,” Lucero said. “In fact, even this piece is controversial…a feminist lens on the passion.”

Events like this speak to the strength and daringness of the artistic community in San Francisco, Lucero said.

“This is my operatic home,” she said. “Living in the Bay Area for over 20 years now, I feel like it still does influence me. My joy is subversive culture and opera.”

For Egoavil, programming events like this shows the strength and diversity of that community.

“When you think about opera music, you might not think about like Latin people or like Latinx people here working,” she said. “Melissa is bringing visibility to a lot of Hispanic composers. I think that is a big thing.”

“They say that, you know, opera is sort of a dying art,” Raquel Bengochea said. “It’s not, because of things like this.”

The Legion of Honor celebrates 100 years in the Richmond District on Nov. 9, and will be celebrating with a day of free activities for the community. Composers Carla Lucero and Héctor Armienta will have new works premiering in the Bay Area in 2025.