Opera Columbus/Juilliard Artistic Collaboration Delivers Avery Amereau as CARMEN

This reimagined and reduced new production of Bizet's most famous opera features the spoken dialogue of the original score, but is set during an early 20th century era of civil war and unsettling social atmosphere. An all-female creative team breathes new life into the powerfully beguiling gypsy Carmen who has no rules when it comes to seducing the soldier José, but his growing desire to keep her triggers a web of jealousy and murderous rage. As part of Opera Columbus' artistic collaboration with The Juilliard School's Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts and its Artist Diploma in Opera Studies (ADOS) program, mezzo-soprano and ADOS artist Avery Amereau will perform the role of Carmen.

Opera Columbus presents Carmen at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.). There will be a preview performance on Wednesday, May 3, at 1 pm with additional performances on Friday, May 5, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 7, at 2 pm. Performed in French with English surtitles with the Columbus Symphony and BalletMet 2.

Tickets are $25-$88 (preview tickets are $10-30) at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase by phone, call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000. Young people aged 13-25 may purchase $5 All Access tickets while available. For more information, visit www.GoFor5.com.

About Opera Columbus' Artistic Collaboration with The Juilliard School

In 2015, Opera Columbus' entered into an artistic collaboration with The Juilliard School's Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts and its Artist Diploma in Opera Studies (ADOS) program. The ADOS program is an intensive, two-year curriculum of advanced opera studies for highly gifted and experienced singers at the post-master's level, selected through a comprehensive audition process. As part of the new collaboration, Opera Columbus Artistic Director Peggy Kriha Dye, herself a graduate of Juilliard, observes the artists' development as they work through the ADOS program. Dye and Juilliard's Director of Opera Studies Stephen Wadsworth collaborate to determine what roles best suit each artist and what operas best suit upcoming Opera Columbus seasons. Selected ADOS artists are then contracted by Opera Columbus to perform in an upcoming, main stage production beginning with the 2016-17 season.

About ADOS Artist Avery Amereau (Carmen)

Mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau has garnered much attention for the unique quality of her voice and sensitivity to interpretation.?She has been praised by The New York Times as "sensual and achingly perfect" as well as "particularly excellent," and by Opera Today as possessing "an effortlessly rich mezzo-soprano voice worthy of any professional stage in the industry with charisma to match." A native of Jupiter, Florida, Amereau received her Bachelor of Music degree at Mannes College, and her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School studying under Edith Wiens.?During the summers of 2011-14, she studied at the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie under the tutelage of Malcolm Martineau, Ann Murray, and John Fisher, among others.?She is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at Juilliard, where she is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.

About director Crystal Manich

Director Crystal Manich creates her fourth production for Opera Columbus after the success of Madama Butterfly (2013), La voix humaine/Pagliacci (2015), and Lully's Armide (2015). She has been hailed by the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other major publications for "lively" and "imaginative staging." She directed productions of the 17th century works The Coronation of Poppea, Giasone, and The Return of Ulysses with Opera Omnia, a company based in New York City of which she is co-founder. Her work spans across international borders including Pinchgut Opera in Australia, and Buenos Aires Lírica in Argentina where she is a regular. US credits include more than 30 productions at Pittsburgh Opera, The Kennedy Center, Boston Lyric Opera, Tulsa Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Santa Barbara, American Opera Projects, Utah Opera, North Carolina Opera, New England Conservatory, Simpson College, Opera Roanoke, and Lyric Opera Baltimore.

About conductor Kathleen Kelly

Pianist, opera coach, conductor, and master teacher Kathleen Kelly is the first woman and first American named as director of musical studies at the Vienna State Opera, and she recently joined the faculty of the University of Michigan as its first coach/conductor of opera. Productions there under her leadership have included Giulio Cesare in Egitto, L'heure espagnole, Gianni Schicchi, and Cosi fan tutte. Summer 2015 found her at the helm of Wolf Trap Opera's Le nozze di Figaro. In 2015, Kelly conducted the premiere of Emmerich Kálmán's Arizona Lady at Arizona Opera, for which she also created the English adaptation of the libretto.

Additional roles will be performed by Norman Garrett (Escamillo), Jon Jurgens (Don José), and Antonina Chehovska (Micaela).

www.OperaColumbus.org

Photo credit: Jennifer Toole

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