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In the FM Opera version, Carmen was drowned at the end.

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"Quant au douanier, c'est notre affaire" - Chorus

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"C'est les contrabandiers le refuge ordinaire" - Lara Ciekiewicz

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Time for a beauty break!  Sit back and enjoy our amazing Micaela (Lara Ciekiewicz) sing her aria from Carmen.  Even better, buy tickets and hear her and this world class cast live and in person!...

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" Je vais danser en votre honneur...La fleur que tu m'avais jetée...Non! Tu ne m'aimes pas!" - Hilary Ginther and Joshua Cole

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‪It might be cold outside but it’s getting hot in here!  Carmen will warm you up from head to toe!  Tickets still available at fmopera.org. #fmcarmen #livelocalexcellent #carmen...

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"Habenera" - Hilary Ginther

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Sneak peek of our amazing Carmen @hilaryginther doing her thing and killing it!!  #fmcarmen #carmen #gcbyap #livelocalexcellent #carmen #sexymezzo #hotstuff

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HpX1qgpLagDHpr8RflETCpshjrL7A9FWx2tZXwmJkF8/edit?usp=sharing

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Chorus member

1. What excites you about singing in the opera?

I really enjoy getting the opportunity to perform with professionals in the industry. It gives us a unique opportunity to observe the professional expectations from the rehearsal process to performances.
2. How does singing in the opera define you?
It has given me the opportunity to become a better performer. Technically it makes me a professional singer because I get paid.
3. Do you feel that singing in the opera chorus prepares you for any future careers/endeavors?
Yes. It gives me more performance opportunities with a wide variety of repertoire. It also gives me the chance to perform repertoire that I wouldn’t get a chance to do as an undergraduate. Observing professionals in rehearsal in the sense of how they carry themselves as professionals. It's all about connections.
4. Tell me about how a preliminary music learning rehearsal would have gone. How much of the music learning is independent? How much is expected out of the chorus members?Generally, all of the music learning for the chorus is done in rehearsals, all leads are expected to learn music independently. Music learning depends on the chorus director. 5. What do you feel is your role as a chorus member?
I have worked for the F-M opera in varying capacities for 3 seasons. Everything from chorus member to office intern, so I had maybe more responsibilities than other chorus members. Many people expected me to be the keeper of the chorus in many ways. I did more administrative stuff than other chorus members. I was the liaison between the chorus and administrative staff. Your voice is an important part of the sound. The chorus is essentially another lead, it is very involved, so there is always something to be doing. There was not a lot of time to be hanging out backstage. I also was a named character and was responsible for figuring this out.
6. How do things change when you go from music rehearsals to staging rehearsals?
The expectation is that by the first staging rehearsal that we are out of score. That is not always the reality. We go from working with the chorus master (SS) to working with the maestro (Eric Weimar). We go from less strict to more strict. This was the 1st production where we got a music rehearsal with the maestro before staging. In staging rehearsals there was less singing than expected. Carmen can be very tiring if asked to sing all the time.
7. Do you feel like you impact the F-M area by participating in the opera?
Yes I do. The F-M area has a lot of arts organizations and the opera contributes to that. The F-M opera also does more than just operas, they do outreach programs like sending Young Artists in to elementary schools in the winter. Being a part of the community.

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Interview with David Hamilton (FM Opera Director

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Interview with David Hamilton (FM Opera Director

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1. Why did the opera choose to do Carmen?- 50th season, wanted iconic, well known, doesn't want to repeat repertoire sooner than every, 10 years, popular, concerned about ticket sales

2. What is the selection process for choosing your leads?            Big leads - local resources (roles appropriate for singers living here), can't have the same people all the time, past coworkers, use the network of people through people you've seen or know, lastly, contact agents (live audition in NY or video recordings), Hilary was one of the original Young Artists about 6 years ago, reauditioned for David a couple years ago, Josh has sung multiple times for FM opera, lives here now, Michaela lives in Winnipeg, auditioned 3 years ago (kept in back of mind for when a role comes along), Escamillo was here for 3 Decembers, filled in (Wes) when the other singer was vacant, looks play into it, have to be able to sing, similar ages

3. How does the F-M opera operate? How does it provide income to the singers and performers?  Smallest city in US with a full season opera company, everyone is paid something, individual donors (50% of budget), (8%) Government sources (state, local, federal), (12-15%) tickets sales, some private foundation support (10%), very little corporate support (Bell Bank, Gate City Bank), cultural thing - I don't want to show people how wealthy I am, so I will keep my wealth to myself (100+ people in area worth more than 100 million dollars)

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Interview with Professor Capistran

1. What is the audition process like for the orchestra?

Selected from FM Symphony

Subs when players can’t

She gives ideas of who to ask

Two large operas (spring, fall), then smaller operas with string quartet or combo

Get the dates ahead of time

2. How often are rehearsals? How long are they?

Get music in advance 2 weeks

Week before the show they rehearse 6 hours on Saturday, then singers come and sing with on Sunday for 3.5 hours, two nights in pit for 4 hours, then two shows

Shows repeat

3. How hard is the music?

Difficult ranges for singers

Players have to adapt

Conductor watches singers

4. What is the orchestra community like?

Everyone knows each other pretty well

After production parties

5. What is the relationship between the singers and the orchestra like?

Don’t really hang out

Know the faculty, but don’t get much time to interact

These opera singers were very gracious - left snacks and a note

Curtain calls they would come and say good luck or thank you

Very appreciative

6. How has this opera been different than other operas you’ve done

Large pit

Not as many string players

4 cellos, usually only 3

Made sound better

Fitting into the pit was more difficult

Brought a school violin for rehearsal

Familiar

7. Anything else?

Grueling playing

Trio rehearsal got very tiring because there is so much rehearsal

Little dialogue helped a bit, but still demanding

Efficient conductor

Conductor makes a lot of difference

Hard to follow every once in a while, but still good

Get used to what they do, it’s their job

Knew score well

8. Paid?

Principal and section players

Not much - approximately $8

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Interview with Stephen Sulich (Choirmaster)

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Interview with Stephen Sulich (Choirmaster)

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Hi Stephen, a couple questions:

1. What characteristics of opera have captured and kept your attention? What does opera have that other genres (like musical theatre) do not? What draws you to the genre?

2. During sitzprobe for Carmen, you kept yourself quite busy the entire rehearsal. What were you doing during that rehearsal? How does your role change when the orchestra and principals come into play?

3. What challenges did this production bring (in terms of teaching notes, tweaking diction, or correcting style)? What challenges were present in this show that haven’t been present in others?

4. Carmen, was written in the latter half of the 19th century. How is the show relevant today? In what ways do you believe it ties into 21st century life?

*unedited reply*

Whoa - cowboy - lots of stuff there - I'll try to answer as clearly as possible:

#1: i sang in the chorus of Carmen in 1974/IU Opera - full production in English - I conducted a bus & truck production in English - Texas Opera Theater - 20 performances in 30 nites - 5 performances in French with Anchorage Opera/1999; 2 performances here with David and Holly and Lucy: 2009 - after the floods; it's one of the most popular operas in the repertory - the world premiere in 1875 was opera comique style - sung with spoken dialogue - there were three short sing recits in acts 1&3 here this month - the recits were written by Ernest Guiraud - colleague of Bizet; you need real opera singers with acting chops and good French diction to make it successful and authentic.

#2: David asked me to prepare the adult coro - rehearsals began late January through late March - I was unavailable for stagings - usually the chorusmaster is present at all stagings - I was quickly catching up to musical issues with the coro the evening of sitzprobe - I was following full score in case there were issues in the orchestra - there were - my job later that week was to check balance in Reineke and continue to monitor ensemble issues with the coro - I ended up working with the children's coro as well - there were constant issues in early rehearsals with proper operatic diction - i luckily have a superb colleague @ the MET - Maestro Donald Palumbo - who advised me on several musical and diction matters - i offered notes before each performance.

#3: when i conduct opera I'm usually present at all staging rehearsals to make sure musical matters remain honest - the 1940 version of this production offered challenges to the coro to remain focused and authentic in their characterization - my job from day one was to create a passion for the text and the drama - we did have several sectionals to slowly routine troublesome passages - as I said - when I'm the conductor - I'm ultimately in charge of musical standards - as a part of the music staff I had to agree with the artistic and musical vision of stage director and conductor.

#4: Carmen premiered in 1875 and was a disaster opening nite - the audience hated the spoken dialogue and the non-balletic dancing in act two - I know the two leads were committed to the vision of the composer - according to the great composer/conductor/ pianist Richard Strauss he felt Carmen to be one of the truly great opera scores and recommended others interested in composition to study it thoroughly - it's a revolutionary score for its age - using dance rhythms - wonderfully colorful preludes to each act - deftly drawn and deeply real characters - the reason such great operas such as Aida and La Boheme and Carmen have endured is that they were written by masters at the peak of their artistic powers - yes - many musicals by Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein have fortunately endured - but - you need real operatic talent onstage - in the pit - and on staff to guide the powerful music dramas of Verdi and Puccini and Bizet - Bizet died way too early - Carmen was his last work - I think he died 3 months after its premiere - the story is as vibrant today as it was from its original Merimee short story - I hope this helps - if you need more - stop by this week - ssulich

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