Alfredo Cabrera stars as The Soldier. Photos courtesy of Alfredo Cabrera.
By Emma Powell
On April 11th, graduate student Alfredo Cabrera acted and sang in the premiere of SHOOT!, his one act opera. SHOOT! is an opera that travels through the journey of a Venezuelan soldier in conflict with a protester, the mirror image of the soldier. The opera consists of only four characters– The Soldier played by Cabrera himself– as well as the Mirror Self of The Soldier (played by Adri Friebel), The Goddess (played by Maria Paterno), and The Narrator (played by Alexis Lamb).
“SHOOT! was born out of a deep desire to confront and understand the complexities of my Venezuelan identity, especially the violent political and spiritual tensions that have shaped the country,” Cabrera said, elaborating on the inspirations behind the opera. “I was particularly moved by the figure of María Lionza—a powerful, often misunderstood deity whose image is everywhere in Venezuela, but whose spiritual practice is outside of the rules.”
María Lionza, or The Goddess within SHOOT!, is the head figure in Venezuelan folk spirituality, a goddess of love, nature and wisdom. “Her duality as both a nurturer and protector resonated with my need for a compassionate yet unflinching way to explore the violence of the state and its consequences,” Cabrera said.
Within the Visual Studio, Cabrera created María Lionza, an eight-foot tall goddess hovering from the center of the stage. Silently she stood, offering seemingly compassionate guidance to those below her.

A picture of The Goddess observing from center stage.
Musically, Cabrera said that one of his inspirations were Tonadas, a type of Latin American folk music. “I was influenced by Venezuelan folk music traditions, especially the Tonada, as well as the poetry of Andrés Eloy Blanco, [a noted Venezuelan poet] and the intimate correspondence between Simón Bolívar and Manuela Sáenz [two Latin American revolutionaries],” he said.
With tackling such a big concept, Cabrera needed a big space. For this, he looked to the Video Studio inside the Duderstadt Center.
Alfredo Cabrera elaborated why he chose the Video Studio rather than a traditional stage for this project. “From the beginning of this project, I intended for it to be interdisciplinary in nature,” Cabrera said. “Apart from being a composer, I have extensively worked as a graphic designer and video editor, and I knew that projections were going to play a huge role in the project.”
The Video Studio’s ability to project up to 64 ft wide by 17 ft high images allows for the stage to not only play a huge role, but make a huge impact as well. Cabrera said that his “need to immerse the audience in the world [he] was trying to create made the Video Studio the ideal space to present this piece.”
Alfredo Cabrera talked about how one of the most impactful moments for him was seeing the projections come to life on such a big stage. “There is a sequence of images in the third scene of the opera where the names of the victims of state-sponsored violence in Venezuela are sequentially displayed. My intention was always to make this a truly impactful moment, but seeing it on that massive screen brought me and the rest of the creative team present at the time to tears,” Cabrera said.
Overall, the Duderstadt Center Video and Audio Studios provided a great resource for capturing the final project for Alfredo Cabrera. “Seeing the final product blew my mind as to what is possible in this space. We all felt welcomed and heard, and the whole process, while difficult, was filled with so much attention to detail and collaboration,” Cabrera said. “It is very common for a creative team to be told ‘no’ over and over again during a production process, but the staff at the Video Studio were not only receptive to all of our ideas, but they actively sought ways to make them happen regardless of the obstacles we might encounter.”

Cabrera stands center stage as his character sings to themself.
Cabrera would like to give a shoutout to Grey Grant, the director and producer of SHOOT!, as well as Kim DeBord, the costume designer, for their hard work.
With this project as Cabrera’s dissertation for his DMA in Composition, he successfully defended his dissertation on April 29th, 2025, and graduated this past term.
Watch SHOOT! here, and find more of Alfredo Cabrara’s work on his website website and or his socials @acabreramusic.