Stage Designer: Peter Davison
Choreography / Deputy Director: Duncan Macfarland
Costume Designer: Susan Willmington
Lighting Designer: Benjamin Pearcy

Originated from the novel by Prosper Mérimée, the opera Carmen was completed in the autumn of 1874. It was the last work of Georges Bizet, and also is the most popular opera on the stage in the world until now. Bizet, through his music, told us a tragic story behind brightness, and depicted the optimistic, straightforward but wild personality of a Gipsy girl, Carmen. The opera discloses the bald-faced passions, describes the eternal confrontation between men and women, shows the ruthless but beautiful life, and proves the perpetual co-existence between love and death.

In this opera, Bizet managed to create vivid dramatic melodies with Spanish elements. Some excerpts such as Habanera, Les Toreadors and the Prelude have been highly cherished by many artists and performed again and again in the past century.

The NCPA has produced a new version of super-classic Carmen as a gift to audiences in this year's Opera Festival. The famous American Director Francesca Zambello is invited to direct this opera, and many big stars will show in the play. The role of heroine Carmen will be taken by Kirstin Chávez, a brilliant and pretty mezzo-soprano. With her attractive singing and devoting performance, Chavez becomes one of the best "spokeswomen" for the opera Carmen. Tenor Richard Troxell, who performed in the movie opera Madama Butterfly with the soprano Huang Ying in 1995, will take the role of Don Jose in the new Carmen. 

Director: Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello directed the opera Carmen for Royal Opera House in 2006, which made an unprecedented success. Thereafter, this Carmen has replaced the old version that had been performed for 15 years.

And this time, how will Francesca Zambello re-tell this epic about a woman? Let us wait and see.



Conductor: Chen Zuohuang
Maestro Chen Zuohuang had the honor to be the first person ever to have received the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan in 1985, as well as becoming the first Doctor of Musical Arts of P.R. China.

Since 1980s, Maestro Chen has been the conductor of the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China; Music Director of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra ; Music Director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Chen was also the highly respected founding Artistic Director of the China National Symphony Orchestra. He was also the Music Director of UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra in Mexico,and Artistic Director of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.Currently, Maestro Chen is  Artistic Director of China National Centre for the Performing Arts and Music Director of Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea.

Lead Cast

Kirstin Chávez (Carmen)
Kirstin Chávez was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She received a Bachelor of Music degree, with Honors, from New Mexico State University, and a Master of Music degree, in Performance, and the Performer's Certificate, from the Eastman School of Music. After beginning an Artistic Residency with the Orlando Opera, Ms. Chávez won several major international competitions.
 
Mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chávez is considered one of the most riveting and significant young artists performing today. She is praised for her luscious and velvety tone that transcends classification, with its rich evenness in her lower register and the easy ripeness of the top. The combination of the dramatic intensity of her acting, along with her natural physical beauty, makes her an arresting and unique presence on the operatic stage.

Ms. Chávez has captured attention and acclaim in her signature roles and is now known as one of the definitive Carmens of the day, a role that she has performed with great success at New York City Opera, Tokyo City Opera, Minnesota Opera, as well as in Beijing, China, and Sydney, Australia.

Her natural sensuality also lends itself remarkably well to a host of pants roles, including her favorites: Octavian, in Der Rosenkvalier (Florentine Opera), Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (New York City Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia), Hansel in Hansel and Gretel (Atlanta Opera) and Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice (Metropolitan Opera). She has also earned praise for her performances in modern American operas with her Jo in Adamo's Little Women (Opera Pacific), Thérèse, in Tobias Picker's Thérèse Raquin (San Diego Opera) and for Sondra Finchley in Picker's new An American Tragedy, which was her Metropolitan Opera principal debut in 2005.

Liang Ning (Carmen)
One of the brightest mezzo-sopranos on the current opera scene, Liang Ning has already been heard in many of the world's leading opera houses. She is well known for her role as Suzuki in the recent film, Madama Butterfly. Ms. Liang started her European career at the Hamburg State Opera and Vienna State Opera where she has sung Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Romeo in I Capuletti ed I Montecchi, Jenny in Mahagonny, and Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos. She has sung Idamante in Idomeneo at Teatro La Scala where she has also performed Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. Ms. Liang debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, which was broadcast worldwide. Ms. Liang has also performed with Berlin State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Semper Opera Dresden, the Bavarian State Opera, as well as opera houses in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Marseilles, Bologna, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, Washington, Philadelphia, and Toronto.

Ms. Liang is also an active concert and recital singer, and has worked with Giuseppe Sinopoli, Gary Bertini, Riccardo Muti, Sir Colin Davis, Christian Thielemann, Eliahu Inbal, Peter Schreier, Gerd Albrecht, and James Colon. She has also sung in many important European festivals such as Wiener Festwochen, Bregenz Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Savonlinna Music Festival, and festivals in Dresden, Ludwigsburg, Bad Kissingen, Athens, and Rheingau.

Ms. Liang is a winner of the Metropolitan National Council Competition, the Mirjam Helin Competition, the Musician's Emergency Competition, the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition, the Loren L. Zachery Competition, and the Luciano Pavarotti Competition.

Ms. Liang received a Masters of Music from the Juilliard School in New York, and was a member of the American Opera Center. She has recorded a series of CD's, including Giacomo Meyerbeer Mélodies, Giuseppe Verdi's Romanza e Canzonette, and Mahler's Symphony No.2 and No. 8, as well as numerous television programs. 

Richard Troxell (Don Jose)
Richard Troxell's beautiful lyric tenor voice has been thrilling audiences in leading roles at opera houses and concert halls around the world. His vocal artistry and powerful stage presence have set him apart. Mr. Troxell's star turn as Lieutenant B.F. Pinkerton in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed film Madama Butterfly, received high praise from both film and music critics alike following its 1995 Paris and 1996 New York premieres. The New York Times called his performance "the most dramatically satisfying vocal characterization" in the film. 
 
In 2010-2011 he debuts Opera Colorado as Rodolfo in La Bohème, returns to Opera Ontario for the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, and makes his St. Louis Symphony debut in Orff's Carmina Burana. Most recent performances for Mr. Troxell have included Carmina Burana with the San Francisco and Columbus Symphonies, his role debut as Don José in Carmen in Portland, Maine, Lenski in Eugene Onegin for the Cleveland Opera, Alfredo in La Traviata for Opera Pacific, and Camille in The Merry Widow for the New Orleans Opera. A very well-received Pinkerton, now a signature role, marked his return to the Portland Opera, followed by his debut as The Italian Singer with the Vancouver Opera production of Der Rosenkavalier. 

Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Troxell's oratorio and orchestral performances include Bach's Saint Matthew Passion, Haydn's The Creation and Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn's Elijah, the Mozart Requiem, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes, and Handel's Messiah, among others. He also sang holiday favorites in an appearance with the Madison Symphony, a Cole Porter concert with the Naples Philharmonic, and A Evening of Loesser and Loewe with conductor Erich Kunzell and the Cincinnati Pops. 

Warren Mok (Don Jose)
A Hong Kong Chinese tenor with a distinguished international career, since his European début in 1987 at the Deutsche Opera Berlin. Mok has been making frequent guest appearances throughout the world, including Deutsche Opera Berlin, Paris Opera, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Opera Australia in Sydney Opera House, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fioretino, Teatro di Bologna Comunale, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opera de Nice, Opera de Lyon, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, The Netherlands Opera, Leipzig Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Teatro di San Carlos Lisbon, Seattle Opera, Bolshoi Theatre, Warsaw Opera, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in Italy, ABAO Bilbao, Opera Ireland, Teatro di Palma di Mallorca, Nancy Opera France, Bergen Opera Norway, Latvian National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, Orlando Opera Florida, Hawaii Opera Theater, concert halls in New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musik Verein, Tokyo Suntori Hall, Seoul, Prague and Zurich.

His operatic repertoire exceeds 60 roles including Calaf in Turandot, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Don Jose in Carmen, Riccardo in Masked Ball, Radames in Aida, Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La Traviata, Don Carlos, Romeo and Juliet, Faust, Werther, and many others.

He holds a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in New York City. In 2008, Mok was awarded Cavaliere dell' Ordine della Stella della Solitarita' Italiana (Knight of the Star of Solidarity of Italy) from the Government of Italy, and Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters), both awards honoring his contribution to bring the cultural exchanges between Hong Kong, Italy & France. He holds a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

Jean-Luc Chaignaud (Escamillo)
After having learned with Régine Crespin and Gabriel Bacquier at the "Conservatoire de Paris", Jean-Luc Chaignaud entered the "Ecole d'Art Lyrique de l’Opéra de Paris". 1988 is the year of the debut of his international career thanks to Christa Ludwig.  His career leads him into the major opera houses, including Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Bonn, Köln, Dresden, the Schleswig Holstein Festival (Maestro Eschenbach), Paris (Theatre du Châtelet under Maestro Boulez, Opéra Bastille), Festival d'Aix en Provence, Bregenz Festival, London, la Fenice, Firenze (Maestro Sinopoli and Maestro Oren), Genova, Trieste (Maestro Oren), The Rotterdam Festival (Maestro Gergiev), Tel Aviv, Geneva, Athens, Barcelona/Liceu, Houston, etc.
 
Furthermore he appears as Escamillo (Carmen) in Munich, Amsterdam & Rotterdam,  Fauré’s Requiem in Pau, Le Nozze di Figaro in Tours, Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) in Toulouse,  Germont (La Traviata) in Athens, Belcore (Elisir d'Amore) in Barcelona/Liceu, Gariribaldi en Sicile / title role by Maestro Marcello Panni in Teatro di san Carlo di Napoli (world premiere) , Mandryka (AraBella) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as the Count (Le Nozze di Figaro), also in Lausanne, Jochanaan in the Salome by Marriot in Montpellier, Valentin (Faust) in Bilbao, Albert (Werther) at La Monnaie Brussels, Karnak (Roi d'Ys) in France, Bartholo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in Nice, Damnationd (Faust) in France and Estonia, Escamillo (Carmen) in Oslo 

Yuan Chenye (Escamillo)
Yuan Chenye's masterful Rigoletto has opened the doors for him to some of the best venues in the US and Europe. In addition to his performance with the Welsh National Opera, which was broadcast live on the BBC, he has performed the role with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Palm Beach Opera. Recent engagements include a reprise as Chou En-Lai in Adams' Nixon in China with Cincinnati Opera, Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera with Boston Lyric Opera and a return to Houston for Amonasro in Aida and the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte.

Mr.Yuan's other recent operatic roles include Schaunard in La Bohème with Pittsburgh Opera; the Dragon King in the world premiere of Legend of YaoJi and Valentin in Gounod's Faust with Opera Hong Kong; Marcello in La Bohème and Bhaer in Little Women with Central City Opera in Colorado; Bhaer with Opera Omaha; Germont in La Traviata with San Francisco Opera's Merola Program; Michele in Il Tabarro and Amida in L'Ormindo with Opera International in Washington D.C.

Anne-Catherine Gillet (Micaela)
After graduating from the Conservatoire de Bruxelles under Jules Bastin, Anne-Catherine Gillet continued her studies at the Conservatoire de Liège with Nicolas Christou.

In concert, she has been invited by the Symphonic Orchestra of la Monnaie, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, the Lorraine Philharmonia, the Ensemble Orchestral of Paris, Ochestre of the Opera de Toulon.

Anne-Catherine Gillet was invited by the opera companies of Nancy (Niece, Peter Grimes 2000), Montpellier (Constance, Quatorze Juillet, produced by J.Savary 2000), Amsterdam (Giannetta, L'Elisir d'Amore, - G.Ferro 2001), La Monnaie (La Princesse, L'Enfant et les sortilèges –d. M.Viotti 2001), Toulon (Sophie, Werther), and Geneva (Karolka, Jenufa & Tebaldo, Don Carlo  2002 d.E.Pido),  Théatre du Capitole of Toulouse, where she was also casted as Papagena (Die Zauberflöte). Her interpretation of Musetta (La Bohème) directed in La Monnaie by Antonio Pappano did not go unnoticed. 

Zhou Xiaolin (Micaela)
Soprano Zhou Xiaolin graduated from China Central Conservatory in 2006 on a full scholarship under the tutelage of Professor Yang Xiaoping. Since her graduation with top honors she has positioned herself as one of the rising young singers in China with her lyrical voice and captivating stage presence. In 2007 she was selected through rigorous nationwide auditions to participate in the workshop of Guo Wenjing's opera Poet Li Bai in Beijing. This led to a full fellowship in the Young Artists Program of the Central City Opera in Colorado, where she would receive intensive training as part of the regular apprentice curriculum and perform in the world premiere of Poet Li Bai, covering the role of "Moon" and singing minor ones. Following her success in Central City, she was invited to sing "Moon" for the China premiere of Poet Li Bai at the Beijing Music Festival, and subsequently reprised the role in Shanghai, Rome, and Hong Kong.

As a young concert singer, Zhou has given solo recitals in Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing and Shanghai to much critical acclaim. She was the soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Philharmonica of the Nations during their China tour in 2005, which was televised nationwide by China's major network, CCTV.

Her expanding operatic repertoire includes the staple of lyric soprano roles, as well as leading roles in several modern operas sung in Chinese, such as Peony Pavilion and Sea. The most recent and notable debut was the leading role in the newly commission opera, The Village Teacher, premiered last December at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing.

A prodigious prize winner in major competitions, Zhou won the first prize in the most prestigious competition in China, the "Music Golden Bell" Vocal Competition in 2007.

Synopsis
Carmen is a lyric opera in four acts. It is about a beautiful and defiant Gypsy girl Carmen, who works in a tobacco factory.

Carmen teases Corporal Don Jose with her flamboyant charms, and Don Jose gets a crush on Carmen. Under her spell, he dumps his lovely fiancée Micaela at the countryside. Carmen then gets involved in a fight with her fellow women workers and is arrested, but Don Jose lets her go privately. Later, Don Jose is put into jail for having freed Carmen.

After Don Jose is discharged from prison, he joins the smuggling gang where Carmen is already in. Nevertheless, Carmen then falls in love with the handsome matador Escamillo, which makes Don Jose so jealous and furious that he stabs Carmen to death when the girl is cheering for Escamillo's triumph in the bullring.

More Plots
Act I
The story begins at a plaza of Seville. Don Jose's fiancée Micaela goes to the posse to visit Don Jose, but fails to find him. At the noon break, a Gypsy girl Carmen, together with her fellow women workers of a tobacco factory, gather in the plaza. The adorable Carmen refuses all her admirers, except Don Jose, a young man working with the weapons at the corner. Carmen throws a flower at his face, and then slips away by the help of other girls. After the noon break, Don Jose picks up the flower secretly. Afterwards, Micaela and Don Jose meet and say sweet words, and Micaela hands a home letter to Don Jose. Suddenly, a riot happens at the tobacco factory—Carmen and another factory girl have a quarrel, and Carmen injures the girl with a dagger. Carmen is thrown into prison accordingly, yet she refuses to repent. Trying her best, Carmen succeeds in teasing Don Jose who takes charge of her. Under Don Jose's help, Carmen escapes, but Don Jose is demoted and detained as a consequence.

Act II
In a small pub near the old ramparts in Seville, Carmen, her girlfriends, military officers and gypsies are drinking in high spirits. Afterwards, a matador Escamillo drops at the pub and courts Carmen, but she doesn't nod. Two smugglers try to rope in Carmen into a smuggling trade after Escamillo leaves, yet Carmen rejects as she is waiting for Don Jose. At this moment, Carmen hears the singing of Don Jose, and she accompanies with the castanet dance. Finally, Don Jose expresses his deep love for her. Because Don Jose is deprived of his position as a dragoon, he has to do smuggling with Carmen in mountains.

Act III
Don Jose, Carmen and other smugglers have lived in mountains for many days, and Don Jose becomes regretful when he thinks of his mother and Micaela. The young man bursts out quarreling with Carmen, and the furious eyes of Don Jose make Carmen realize that she may be killed by this man someday. Then, Micaela, who still loves Don Jose, risks her life to find Don Jose, telling his mother is very sick. At the same time, the matador Escamillo also comes to look for Carmen, but happens to come across Don Jose standing sentry. Knowing his intention, Don Jose is overwhelmed by jealousy and decides to kill him. However, his attempt is stopped by Carmen. Disappointed by Carmen and concerned about his mother, Don Jose returned home with Micaela.

Act IV
At the plaza in front of the bullfighting arena of Seville, spectators and peddlers go back and forth. Escamillo enters the arena, leaving Carmen outside. Then, Don Jose in ragged clothes begs for the forgiveness from Carmen, but she stays apathetic. Afterwards, the arena is exploded with cheers and applauses, and Carmen believes they are for the victory of Escamillo. She takes off the ring given by Don Jose, wanting to rush into the arena. Don Jose is thoroughly ablaze with anger, and he draws out the stagger and stabs at Carmen. When people step out from the arena with excitements, they see Carmen lie in blood and hear Don Jose cry "I killed her! Carmen, my dear Carmen!"
 

Habanera