Carmen’s coming to Drysdale

Millenium Opera is going on tour for the first time outside Melbourne, and will bring Carmen to The Potato Shed in Drysdale next month.

Following recent successful seasons in Melbourne of the operas Maria Stuarda, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Tabarro, La Boheme and Norma, Millennium Opera is presenting full concert performances of Bizet’s famous opera and much-loved French masterpiece Carmen to venues in Geelong and Healesville.

Whereas regional operatic performances are often accompanied by piano or synthesiser, audiences for Carmen can expect beautiful singing accompanied by the rich sounds of a live orchestra comprising some of Melbourne’s finest professional musicians.

The principal operatic roles are:

Kathryn Grey (Opera Australia, Melbourne Opera and Victorian Opera)

Stephen Smith (Opera Australia)

Emily Szabo (Richard Divall Prize winner, 2022) and

David Eckstein (Victorian Opera, Melbourne Opera).

Grey has worked extensively with all the major opera companies in Melbourne, including Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, and Melbourne Opera, singing principal roles, covers and ensemble. A graduate of Melbourne University and member of the postgraduate Opera Studio at Victorian College of the Arts, she is also an accomplished pianist and lover of languages, speaking Italian, French and German.

These singers will be supported by chorus and orchestra, directed by Michael Woods, who has studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, with John Hopkins at the University of Melbourne, at the Juilliard School in New York and in the Czech Republic

Founded in Melbourne in 2016, Millennium Opera was formed by an experienced team of motivated opera, music, academic and business professionals.

The company’s aim is to create opportunities for opera singers of all ages and experience to perform, and to provide quality productions and performances at an affordable price for Melbourne and regional audiences.

Millenium Opera invites audiences to hear the famous arias, duets and choruses, including “Habanera”, “Seguidilla”, “Gypsy Song” and “Toreador Song” in a work of fun, love, jealousy and despair.

Carmen will be peformed at The Potato Shed, Drysdale, on August 5 at 2.30pm.

For tickets, head to geelongaustralia.com.au/potatoshed

For more information on Millenium Opera, head to facebook.com/millenniumopera