Rowan Opera presents CARMEN

The Rowan Opera Company brings one of the world’s most popular operas to life when it stages Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Performances are April 24 & 25 and May 1, 2009 at 8 pm with a matinee on May 2 at 3 pm in Rowan University’s Pfleeger Concert Hall.

Noted performer and Rowan faculty member Marian Stieber directs this fully-staged production, presented with English dialogue and sung in French with surtitles. The Rowan University Orchestra, under the direction of Salvatore Scarpa, accompanies the performance.

Carmen, Bizet’s final work, debuted in March 1875 – only three months before the composer’s death. The opera met with a chilly reception and so Bizet never knew his work would go on to be one of the most performed and beloved operas. Set in the Spanish city of Seville in the early 19^th century, the story concerns a beautiful, seductive gypsy woman with a fiery temper who conquers men with ease. When she woos Don José, a young soldier enamored of another woman, and toys with the affections of bullfighter, Carmen inspires jealousy, rejection, madness and murder set to some of the most passionate music in all of opera.

The student cast features Kathleen Deffley and Ashley Valente alternating in the role of Carmen, with Steven McMahon as Don Jose, Kasey King and Debra August alternating as Micaela, John Baccaro as Escamillo, Michelle Cook and Stephanie Krizek alternating as Frasquita, Amanda Callinan and Corrie-Rose Recchia alternating as Mercedes, Stephen Ferrara as Remendado, Brian Cromer as Dancairo, Kyle Robinson as Zuniga and William Chamuris as Morales. They are joined by a chorus of more than 40 Rowan students, faculty, staff and community members.

A highly regarded performer throughout the region, Philadelphia resident Stieber is head of the Vocal Division in Rowan’s Department of Music. As director of the Rowan Opera Company, she has staged numerous productions including The Magic Flute, The Pirates of Penzance, The Marriage of Figaro, Die Fledermaus and Dido and Aeneas. She has distinguished herself in opera, on the concert stage and in recital with numerous roles in La Boheme, Faust and The Barber of Seville.

The production is underwritten by The Friends of Marie F. Rader.

Pfleeger Concert Hall is located in Wilson Hall on the campus of Rowan University, Route 322 in Glassboro. Tickets are $10, general admission; and $5 for seniors, students, staff and alumni. Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the night of the performance. For information, contact the box office at 856-256-4545 or visit www.rowan.edu/fpa.