In this week’s episode, Brandon Scribner analyzes Laura Kaminsky’s opera, As One, which uses music (specifically texture and timbre) to trace the experience of Hannah’s gender transition.

This episode was produced by Zach Lloyd along with Team Lead Anna Rose Nelson. Special thanks to peer reviewers Vivian Luong and Joseph Straus.

SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/

[SMT-Pod opening theme music]

Welcome to SMT-Pod! The premiere audio publication of the Society for Music Theory. In this week’s episode, Brandon Scribner analyzes Laura Kaminsky’s opera, As One, which uses music (specifically texture and timbre) to trace the experience of Hannah’s gender transition.

Content warning: this episode contains discussion and references to gender dysphoria, transphobia, sexual assault, and bullying. Listener discretion is advised.

"They swear I'm like this crazy danger to society… I'm just a normal kid going to school, playing sports."

Trans people are under attack. The above quote is from AB Hernandez, a transgender high school athlete. On May 28th 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation into her participation in California state sports competitions--threatening to withhold funding over the incident. No matter your stance on trans women in sports, it is no question that in the United States, trans people face discrimination.

Attacks on trans femme athletes, anti-trans public bathroom legislation, and bans on trans people in the military are just a few of the issues trans people experience. Not to mention the negative representation and/or complete absence of trans people in media, which may seem small issue in comparison, but is still a prominent issue.

As One (2014) is a modern chamber opera for two voices and string quartet by composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. The opera follows the experiences of Hannah grappling with her identity and experiences as a transgender woman. Over the course of the opera, Hannah recounts some of her experiences growing up assigned male--conflicting with the gender norms assigned to her.

She eventually transitions, and begins to face different issues including sexual assault. After isolating herself in Norway, Hannah learns to accept herself as a transgender woman, leaving her past behind but not forgotten as it has made her who she is, and is a part of her. Hannah is portrayed pre-transition by a baritone, called “Hannah (before),” and post-transition by a mezzo soprano, called “Hannah (after).”

This podcast adds to the small but growing literature on the intersection of queer studies and opera. I build upon the work of Shana Goldin-Perschbacher (2022), who discusses the parallels between country music and queer experiences in her 2022 book Queer Country. Like how Goldin-Perchbacher argues that country music reflects queer experiences, I argue that the music of As One reflects a trans experience. Kaminsky uses timbre, texture and instrumentation to tell a trans narrative, specifically manipulating interactions between the two vocal lines of Hannah (before) and Hannah (after) through register and vocal timbre to represent Hannah’s slow acceptance of herself as a trans woman.

The opera is broken down into three parts: Part 1: Hannah’s grade school years, where she notices her differences but does not understand them and suffers through a heavily gendered upbringing and schooling. Part 2: Hannah’s college years where she is transitioning and living life as a woman, dealing with the struggles of transition and being a woman. Part 3: Hannah’s escape to Norway where she spends time alone and discovers herself.

The first half of the opera features more singing from Hannah (before). Gradually, Hannah (before) loses the spotlight as Hannah (after) takes over, singing the entire third part alone, except for the very end. I argue this dynamic is symbolic of Hannah’s inner conflict of identity.

Hannah is unaware of her queer identity early on in the opera, and thus tries to be a traditional “boy” to compensate for her femme feelings. As the opera progresses, Hannah gradually transitions to only aligning with her post-transition self and suppressing her past. Upon self-reflection in Norway, Hannah begins to fully accept both her pre- and post-transition selves. Hannah (before) returns at the finale when she has fully accepted herself, leaving behind her past, not with contempt or suppression, but acceptance.

The first scene we will be analyzing has Hannah grappling with gender dysphoria in her high-school sex ed class. In this scene, Hannah (before) plays the role of the sex ed teacher, while Hannah (after) plays the role of herself. The boys and girls have been separated, and Hannah (before) begins lecturing the boys on gender, sexuality, and puberty while Hannah (after) sits uncomfortably in silence. The one time Hannah (after) does try to speak up, she is quickly interrupted by the teacher. Hannah (before) dominates this scene, speaking of maleness (testosterone, voice deepening, facial hair) and in very black and white, gender dichotomous terms (only two genders in the animal kingdom: male and female…). Note the texture that accompanies Hannah (before) as well as the low register she sings in.

[Kaminsky As One, “Sex ed” (10:40-12:00).]

After being sung at about gender binaries, Hannah (after) concludes the scene, singing “But this boy only wants to be in the other room” on the pitches D-E-F# (scale degrees 1, 2 and 3 in D major). She ends with a strongly implied 3-2-1 authentic cadence in a high register sung without accompaniment, in contrast to Hannah (before)’s unrelenting lecture on gender binaries, sung in a low register with active accompaniment. Yes, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed use the libretto to explicitly address gender binaries and list “masculine” traits.

But Kaminsky also paints the music to represent this binary: assigning Hannah (before) a more “masculine” part with active accompaniment and low vocal register, and assigning Hannah (after) a more “feminine” part with a simple, unaccompanied, three-note melody in a higher register. Hannah (after)’s part represents Hannah’s true feelings, which are in conflict with the gender norms and sex ed she just experienced.

[Kaminsky As One, “Sex ed” mm. 585-597; (13:00-13:16).]

Our next and final scene we will be discussing is also the final act, the one that is predominantly sung by Hannah (after). After experiencing gender related issues both pre-transition (such as dysphoria and gender stereotyping) and post-transition (such as sexual assault and fear of rejection after coming out), Hannah retreats to Norway. She lives isolated in the woods for a prolonged period, and thus she is forced to spend time with herself, leading to incredible self-growth, healing, and discovery.

After some soul searching, Hannah realizes that male or female, dysphoria or not, she is simply herself. Listen to the moment she realizes this, where Hannah (after) sings that her handwriting is “not like a girl’s or like a boy’s. It is mine.” Notice how Hannah (before) joins her on “it is mine.” Perhaps the handwriting is not just Hannah before’s or after’s, but both’s. Perhaps the handwriting is not just “mine,” but “ours.”

[PLAY AUDIO: Kaminsky As One, “Norway” mm. 3021-3035; (1:09:20-1:09:55).]

From this point on, the two sing together, representative of Hannah accepting both parts of herself. The two continue their duet, and the opera concludes with Kaminsky’s ultimate symbolism of Hannah’s self-acceptance: the only time in which the characters sing in unison--a true unison at that.

Both Hannahs sing “As One” multiple times in harmony before the final iteration. Hannah (before) joins Hannah (after) on the notes F#4-E4-F#4. Hannah (before) then drops back down to the A3 she was singing in the previous iterations.

As the clip plays, notice how Hannah (before) moves up to join Hannah (after) in the 4th octave, and not vice versa. She has accepted that she is a transgender woman. Hannah (before) has moved up to join her true fullest self, similar to how Hannah (before) made the steps to transition to Hannah (after). Hannah (before) then returns to the A3 she was singing in the previous sub-phrases as Hannah (after) leaves, symbolizing her leaving her assigned gender behind once and for all. However, this does not mean that she completely rejects Hannah (before). Hannah realizes that her experiences pre-transition are still a part of her and have shaped who she is today. Hannah is Hannah, pre- and post-transition.

[PLAY AUDIO: Kaminsky As One, “Norway” mm. 3123-3137; (1:11:34-1:12:00).]

Hannah has fully accepted herself. Hannah (after) leaves Hannah (before) behind, but takes part of herself with her. Her past experiences make her who she is. Hannah (before) joining Hannah (after) in the E4-F#4 unison symbolizes Hannah’s growth and transition to her femme self. The drop back to the A3 by Hannah (before) is the final leaving behind of her pre-transition past with acceptance as opposed to rejection. This final unison symbolizes Hannah’s total acceptance of herself. It is all of her experiences, pre- and post-transition, that make her her.

Through exploring trans and queer experience in Kaminsky’s As One, I invite us to consider how such perspectives could further open up our understanding of music across diverse genres and styles, from country music to opera and beyond. Kaminsky plays with the voices of Hannah (before) and Hannah (after), utilizing them as foils to further show Hannah’s complex character and, in turn, the intricacies of a queer experience. Through timbre, texture, and instrumentation, Kaminsky is able to depict Hannah’s journey and slow acceptance of herself as a trans woman. She leaves Norway, and, in turn, the opera, “As One.” Thank you for listening!

I would like to give a huge thanks to my professor, Rachel Lumsden, my colleagues and classmates, Aaron D'Zurilla, Luis Matos-Tovar, Isabel Milbourn, Gillian Radcliff, and Zachary Simonds, my reviewers, Vivian Luong and Joseph Straus, and the team at SMT-Pod, including Zach Lloyd, Megan Lyons, and Anna Rose Nelson, for their feedback and support. This wouldn't have been possible without all of their advice, feedback, and support. I am very grateful to all of you, so thank you again so much for this.

Visit our website smt-pod.org for supplemental materials related to this episode and to learn how to submit an episode proposal. Join in on the conversation by tweeting your questions and comments @SMT_Pod. SMT Pod's theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang.