New Rochelle Opera Opens CARMEN Tonight

New Rochelle Opera's year-long 30th anniversary celebration reaches its apex with a revival of Georges Bizet's CARMEN this weekend, June 25-28, 2015 in the Frank J. Auriana Theatre at the Ursuline School, 1345 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY. The production will be staged by Company co-founder and artistic director Camille Coppola, with orchestra and chorus conducted by Gregory Ortega. As in previous years, the production will feature the use of English supertitles to translate the French text.

Mrs. Coppola has directed all of the productions for the past 29 seasons and has been instrumental in assisting young opera singers in their careers, several of whom are currently performing leading and comprimario roles at the Metropolitan Opera. Mrs. Coppola has been a judge for vocal competitions: Puccini Foundation, New York Vocal Artists, Inc. and Career Bridges Association and lectures on opera throughout the county. She also directed for the Altamura Center for the Performing Arts. As a soloist she has performed with the New Rochelle Opera, Westchester County Opera Association and the Performing Arts Society. She is the founder of the Queen City Singers and received the Cab Calloway Lifetime Achievement Award for the Performing Arts.

Mr. Ortega is celebrating his 19th year with New Rochelle Opera. He has studied music at Hunter College, Harmony and Ear Training with Louise Talma (Hunter College, the American Institute at Fontainbleau, Academy of Arts and Letters) Piano with Herbert Stessin (Juilliard School), and has conducted for most of the small major opera houses in New York City and Boston, including the Bel Canto Opera, for which he conducted two U.S. premieres: Rossini's La Pietra del Paragone and Glinka's A Life for the Tsar.

The cast on Thursday (6/25) and Saturday (6/27) evenings are: Sishel Claverie (Carmen), Salvatore Atti (Don Jose), Zhanna Alkhazova (Micaela), Youngjoo An (Escamillo), Kathleen Farrar Buccleugh (Frasquita), Kristen Behrmann (Mercedes), Gilad Paz (Remendado), Danny Oakden (Dancairo), Luis Alvarado (Zuñiga) and Luke Scott (Morales). The Friday evening (6/26) and Sunday matinee (6/28) cast includes: Nikola Printz (Carmen), Michael Paul Krubitzer (Don Jose), Roseanne Ackerley (Micaela), Robert Garner (Escamillo), Barbee Monk (Frasquita), Sahoko Sato (Mercedes), David Gordon (Remendado), Steven Herring (Dancairo), Alexander Hahn (Zuñiga) and Jonathan Hare (Morales).

Performances on June 25-27 are at 8:00 pm, and June 28 is at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $38 general admission, and $35 for seniors and students. A discounted ticket price of $30 is being offered for the Thursday, June 25th performance only, if reserved and paid for in advance. Tickets purchased at the door on Thursday will be full price. To purchase advance tickets, visit www.nropera.org, or send a check payable to New Rochelle Opera, Inc., to P.O. Box 55, New Rochelle, New York 10804. To receive tickets by mail, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Group rates are available for 10 or more. For further information, call (914) 576-1617.

New Rochelle Opera's programs are made possible by Arts Westchester with support from Westchester County Government, as well as by grants from The City of New Rochelle, ArtsWestchester, and State Farm Companies Foundation.

New Rochelle Opera was formed for the purpose of presenting imaginative and appealing operatic productions to the Westchester community. It serves to create a deeper understanding and appreciation of live opera, and make it accessible and affordable to a diverse audience. The company presents the art form in its various aspects (e.g. fully staged performances, opera in concert, school programs, opera workshops and demonstrations), engaging aspiring young artists as well as experienced professionals. www.nropera.org