For the first time in more than a decade, Long Island Opera is returning with live-staged opera productions in Nassau and Suffolk counties, beginning with a Sept. 15 performance of George Bizet's Carmen at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The two-hour production, which will start at 8 p.m., is a full-staged costumed performance with piano that will be led by Music Director Fabio Bezuti and star Long Island native Kara Cornell in the title role.
Carmen will also star tenor David Guzman as Don Jose; baritone Eric McKeever as Escamillo; bass Christian Zaremba as Zuniga; soprano Elise Brancheau as Micaela; baritone Robert Aaron Taylor as Moralès; soprano Margaret Meyer as Frasquita; and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Pojanowski as Mercédès with baritone Thaddaeus Borne and tenor Donald Groves playing the part of the smugglers. Long Island Opera's singers hail the United States, Colombia, France, Italy, Mexico, Germany and Russia, and have performed with national and international opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Opera, LA Opera, New York City Opera, and at various festivals throughout the United States.
Long Island Opera's 2012-2013 season will also include performances of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto on Oct. 6 and Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme, featuring the Children's Orchestra Society, on April 7, 2013 at Molloy College's Madison Theatre in Rockville Centre.
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Tickets for Carmen are $75 (limited VIP reserved seating and pre-show wine reception); $35 (orchestra); $25 (balcony) and $10-$15 (student). Contributors who make a $150 donation to Long Island Opera will receive two Supporter tickets to any one opera of the 2012-2013 season along, admission to the wine reception and an exquisite Italian opera print; for a $250 donation, contributors will receive two VIP tickets with above benefits plus preferred seating and backstage access.
To purchase tickets or make a donation, visit www.LongIslandOpera.org or call 631-772-9544. Contributions to Long Island Opera are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For additional information, email events@longislandopera.org.
