Piedmont Opera’s Joyner Horn Has a Lot to Crow About—Literally

Piedmont Opera performer and board member Joyner Horn (featured on the far left in the group photo) has a lot to crow about—literally. This summer, Horn was selected to join the cast at Des Moines Metro Opera, where she will make her mainstage debut as the Rooster in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen.

Now in its 51st year, the Frank R. Brownell III Apprentice Artist Program at Des Moines Metro Opera is one of the most comprehensive and respected career training programs in the country. The program is known for nurturing some of America’s brightest rising talents in the operatic field.

Bursting with boundless invention, imaginative colors and a memorable cast of creatures, director Kristine McIntyre, maestro David Neely, and Oyoram, Visual Composer, reunite after their triumphant production of Bluebeard’s Castle to bring the vixen’s natural world to life.

Piedmont Opera had a chance to sit down with Joyner to learn more about her experience at Des Moines Opera.

A bit of info about the show itself: Director Kristine McIntyre and visual composer Oyoram began working on the concept for The Cunning Little Vixen over a year ago. Their first collaboration, Des Moines Metro Opera’s Bluebeard’s Castle, utilized LED panels and animation to deepen the storytelling and immerse the actors and audience in a living, vibrant world of color and movement. This mixed-medium approach rivals Hollywood and Broadway, combining physical and virtual spectacle to enchant the audience and embrace a 21st century Gesamptkunstwerk. The set of The Cunning Little Vixen is designed with the work of Bluebeard’s in mind. Built specifically for DMMO’s unique space of proscenium combined with Shakespearean playing circle, the LED panels are split into individual slivers of gargantuan proportions. The plexi-glass floor reflects the animations, adding color and depth to the entire stage. The playing circle is a ring, reinforcing the idea of the circle of life which permeates the opera. Ukrainian costume designer Vita Tzykun has crafted each individual costume, with the help of the Minnesota Opera costume shop. The world is animal and human, and the vibrancy of the costumes reflect this – only the animals are in color, with the humans in neutral greys and browns.

Q: This opera blends fairy-tale whimsy with very serious themes about life and nature. What does that contrast mean to you?

A: Each moment in life is full of whimsy if we choose to see it. The other day, I watched the water splatter from my tea strainer back into my teacup. The water formed an arch of droplets, catching the light as they fell into the chestnut-colored water. It was beautiful, fascinating – a sight I’d normally ignore in my tea-making process. It was whimsy in the midst of the mundane, and now I look for it each morning. Even in the moments of life’s deepest sorrow, there’s beauty and hope. We see this in the opera when the Vixen sacrifices herself for her children – the tragedy is palpable, but the beauty of the music, the set, and her sacrifice are equally so. The set design constantly reminds the audience of the “circle of life”, with the lit ring of the playing circle and the animation displaying different seasons; the story itself begins and ends in similar places in the life cycle of an animal. The contrast is inherently human, inherently real, and Janáček beautiful captures what it means to be alive.

Q: Do you have a favorite character or moment in the opera besides your own?

A: How can I pick when every moment is so rich, beautiful, and delightful?! I do love my scene – my hens are fabulous and die with such style! And it’s one of the only comedic moments in the show. AND everyone says it’s their favorite scene! But besides us – the young girl playing the frog hops with abandon, and all the animals are delightful with their individual personalities and storylines. The dog provides additional comedic relief, and I love the concept in the costume design for it – the humans are all in greys and neutrals, and the animals in color. Since the dog walks between both worlds as a domesticated animal, it’s shaggy and grey as well. So – can I say the whole opera is my favorite, at the moment? It’s like a Disney movie!

Q: What’s it like working with the animals-as-humans staging? Any fun or weird costume or movement challenges?

A: While at LAMDA, part of my role preparation training was to explore the animalistic qualities of human characters. We all embody these qualities to some extent as humans, whether through a birdlike cock of the head or catlike squint of the eye. To magnify those elements from human level to completely animalistic was a simple step. I’m constantly reminded of clowning – simply being, finding the ridiculous as delightful, and sharing that with the audience, regardless of how I may be perceived. I have a feather tail which protrudes about a foot from my backside, a crest which rises from my head about eight inches, and I have to walk, cluck, and peck like your regular old rooster – not to mention sing in Czech on top of it! So, there are certainly challenges in maneuvering my body to meet the staging, making sure I don’t land on my tail feathers, nor constrict my airway to sing. But it’s satisfying and fulfilling to step onstage and not feel the pressure of being human – I’m just an arrogant rooster, after all, and he certainly doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of others! All in all? I love it.

Q: How does the DMMO production design (sets, costumes, etc.) help you get into character?

A: The costume does much of the work for me – all I need do is wear it. It’s beautifully detailed with real rooster feathers, yet fanciful with glitter and sparkle. It’s as larger-than-life as you’d expect a cocky rooster to view himself, and as a human-sized animal would be. The set is enchanting – I don’t get to enjoy it from the stage, because the LED panels are best viewed from the audience – but it enhances the idea of an immersive world that is inescapable, lush, and inviting. My favorite pieces of theatre, whether as audience or performer, have been immersive. While the audience in this piece isn’t interacting with the singing actors, they’re sucked in through the animation. In many ways, it makes the audience part of the production in a new way – it’s like a film – all your senses are captivated. I’m excited to play off the audience’s energy and enthusiasm once we open.

Q: What’s the energy like among the young artists?

A: Everyone is at a different stage in their career; for some, this is their first young artist program, and for others, it might be their last. Everyone brings something new and exciting, and I always find I learn more from watching my colleagues than I could ever learn in a classroom or lecture setting. And everyone is supportive and kind, which in my experience, is a rare thing. It’s also rare you get multiple Wagnerians in the same space, and there are three of us! Thank you, Flying Dutchman! Color me delighted. I’m enjoying this. I can’t wait to bring this energy back to Piedmont!

About Joyner Horn

Horn is a gifted actress and singer, and a 2023 graduate of LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). During her time in London, she performed a range of classical and musical theatre roles, including Diana in All’s Well That Ends Well, Charlotte Malcolm in A Little Night Music, Letitia Hardy in The Belle’s Stratagem, Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi, Henry VI/Catesby in Margaret of Anjou, Estela/Lisarda in The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs, and Adriana in The Comedy of Errors.

Prior to her studies abroad, she was seen locally as Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music and Countess Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express with The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem. She also appeared as Corvina in Volpone with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute.

Horn’s operatic credits are equally impressive. She performed in L’enfant et les sortilèges with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, singing the roles of Un pâtre, La Chatte, and L’Écureuil. Additional notable stage roles include Calisto in La Calisto with the University of Cincinnati-CCM, Florence Pike in Albert Herring with the Boston University Opera Institute, and Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She has also covered roles such as the Third Woodsprite and Kitchen Boy in Rusalka at Des Moines Metro Opera. In concert, she has returned to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as the mezzo-soprano soloist for Beethoven’s Mass in C and the Choral Fantasy as part of the Beethoven Akademie 1808 program. She has also performed the Vivaldi Magnificat with Cincinnati Camerata.

Piedmont Opera is proud to celebrate the accomplishments of Joyner Horn—an artist of exceptional talent, a dedicated advocate for the arts, and now a crowing star on the national stage.