Wolf Trap Opera to Present Bizet's CARMEN, 7/25

Wolf Trap Opera presents Bizet's Carmen for one night only, Friday, July 25 at 8:15 pm at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. See below for ticketing information.

A spellbinding drama filled with lust, jealousy, and tragedy, Carmen is one of the world's most popular and oft-performed operas. Bizet's masterpiece features many of opera's most powerful and memorable arias, from the "Habanera" to the passionate seduction song "Seguidilla" and the triumphant bravura of the "Song of the Toreador." The production will be sung in French with English supertitles, projected on screens in-house and also available on internet-capable devices via MobiTxt, Figaro Systems' new supertitle technology, to patrons on the lawn.

Continuing Wolf Trap's tradition of excellence as a top-tier operatic training program for emerging artists, all leading roles will be performed exclusively by Wolf Trap Opera's Filene Young Artists. This cast includes French mezzo-soprano Maya Lahyani as Carmen and Americans tenor Kevin Ray as Don José; baritone Norman Garrett as Escamillo; and soprano Melinda Whittington as Micaëla. See complete casting below. Wolf Trap Opera's elite group of young singers is chosen through a highly selective annual nationwide audition tour. In addition to the artists listed above, technology journalist and opera aficionado David Pogue joins the chorus and cast as an "extra" outfitted in costume and Google Glass to give the Wolf Trap audience a first-of-its-kind perspective of the Filene Center stage.

Los Angeles Opera's resident conductor Grant Gershon returns to Wolf Trap following last summer's production of La traviata. He leads the Carmen cast, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Grammy Award-winning Washington Chorus (Julian Wachner, Music Director). Tara Faircloth directs, with 1930s-period costuming by Rooth Varland and lighting by Mark Stanley.

With its vibrant colors and evocative images, this new Operascape production was created specifically for Wolf Trap's large outdoor amphitheater by renowned projections designer S. Katy Tucker. Audiences will be transported to 1930s Spain through the use of larger-than-life video set projections displayed on a 60-foot wide custom screen. The new production highlights the young singers through an amplification system that resonates to the back of the lawn and features the National Symphony Orchestra. The custom-design video backdrops add scenery and ambiance, while allowing room for a full orchestra to perform alongside the singers and chorus on the 27,000+ square feet Filene Center stage.

This production of Carmen is made possible in part through generous philanthropic support from Wolf Trap Foundation Board Chairman Dan D'Aniello and his wife, Gayle.

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