Opera Company of Middlebury Presents Tchaikovsky's EUGENE ONEGIN

The company started in an unfinished building with a 90-minute Carmen, using only four singers (all the company could afford), four musicians and a narrator. It was a very modest beginning for the Opera Company of Middlebury, which in ten years has grown into one of the region's major opera companies, presenting fully-staged professional productions in the intimate confines of Middlebury's Town Hall Theater.

"I think we've really arrived as a company," say artistic director Douglas Anderson. "Over 500 singers applied for our auditions this year, and we see our productions listed in the Opera News. There's a real buzz in the industry about this company that's doing such astonishing work in a little Vermont town."

For its tenth season OCM is staging Tchaikovsky's masterwork, Eugene Onegin. "It's the biggest production we've ever attempted," says Anderson. Baritone Darik Knutsen plays the title role, and Vermont soprano Suzanne Kantorski-Merrill is featured in the demanding role of Tatiana.

This is Kantorski-Merrill's third production with the company, having starred earlier in Puccini's La Bohème (2008) and Bizet's ThePearl Fishers (2010).

Maestro Emmanuel Plasson returns for his third year as music director. "The fact that this world-class conductor loves us and works with us is something we still find slightly unbelievable," says Anderson. "I was in New York just two weeks ago to see him conducting the New York City Opera, and he'd just returned from conducting at Covent Garden in London." Plasson loves Vermont, explains Anderson, and has a special affinity for OCM's creative productions and warm, supportive atmosphere. "He also loves our brilliant 21-piece orchestra, made up of the best musicians in Vermont," says Anderson.

Eugene Onegin will play five performances from May 31 through June 8 at Town Hall Theater. Tickets are $50/$55 balcony, and may be purchased at www.townhalltheater.org, 802 382-9222, at the THT Box Office (Mon-Sat, Noon-5 pm) or at the door, if available. For further information, go to www.ocmvermont.org .