![\"thumbnews1936.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/thumbnews1936.jpg\")
Skagit Opera is getting ready to open Bizet’s opera Carmen at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA. There will be a free preview talk with director Erich Parce & conductor Dean Williamson – including musical selections from the opera.<\/p>\nSkagit Opera is getting ready to open Bizet’s opera Carmen at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA. There will be a free preview talk with director Erich Parce & conductor Dean Williamson – including musical selections from the opera.<\/p>\n
I have seen two Skagit Opera productions: The Magic Flute and the Marriage of Figaro – both were excellent productions. Hope to see you at the show!<\/p>\n
Sunday, Oct. 1st – 2 pm – McIntyre Hall<\/p>\n
Carmen Performances by Skagit Opera at McIntyre Hall, October 2006
\nFriday, October 6 at 7:30pm
\nSunday, October 8 at 2pm
\nFriday, October 13 at 7:30pm
\nSunday, October 15 at 2pm
\nMore Information on Dean Williamson<\/p>\n
In 2001, he was asked to conduct a new production of Lucia<\/em> at the Minnesota Opera. His success there led to numerous other invitations and in 2002 he made his debut at the Wolf Trap Opera with Don Pasquale.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n The 2003 season included La boh\u00c3\u00a9me <\/em>at the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and Washington East Opera, Don Giovanni<\/em> at the Opera Colorado and Spokane Opera companies, Carmen<\/em> at Rimrock Opera, and La finta giardiniera<\/em> at Ohio University. That summer, he conducted Eugene Onegin<\/em> at the Opera Festival of New Jersey, and returned to Wolf Trap to lead the Filene Center production of Il barbiere di Siviglia. <\/em>In the fall of 2003, he was a visiting guest professor at the University of Southern California\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Thornton School of Music, teaching in the opera program and conducting Hansel and Gretel.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n Engagements in 2004 included Carmen<\/em> at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Sondheim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Passion<\/em> at Minnesota Opera, Don Pasquale<\/em> at the San Francisco Opera\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Merola program, Cosi fan tutte <\/em>at the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Italiana in Algeri <\/em>at Boston Lyric Opera. <\/font><\/p>\n In 2005 he led Le nozze di Figaro<\/em> at the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program and made his main stage Seattle Opera debut with a new production of Les Contes d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Hoffmann<\/em>, receiving much praise in the international press. In the summer he conducted Madama Butterfly<\/em> at the Chautauqua Opera and La<\/em> Cenerentola<\/em> at Wolf Trap in the Filene Center. This fall he makes his Canadian debut with La boh\u00c3\u00a9me <\/em>at the Manitoba Opera.<\/font><\/p>\n In 2006 he returns to Spokane Opera for the New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Eve gala, then conducts Il barbiere di Siviglia<\/em> at the Washington East Opera. In February, he makes his Kentucky Opera debut with another production of Il barbiere di Siviglia<\/em>, then comes back to the Seattle Opera YAP to lead The Turn of the Screw.<\/em> In the spring and summer he returns to the Opera Theatre of St. Louis for Il barbiere di Siviglia<\/em>, opening the season there. In the fall he conducts Die Zauberfl\u00c3\u00b6te <\/em>at Opera Colorado.<\/font><\/p>\n Acclaimed by London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Opera <\/em>as a virtuoso at the keyboard, he was for twelve years principal coach and pianist for the Seattle Opera. Mr. Williamson has also performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe as accompanist with some of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leading singers.<\/font><\/p>\n Deeply committed to teaching, he has given masterclasses at universities around the country, and has served on the judging panels of many competitions and scholarship auditions, including the Metropolitan National Council. <\/font><\/p>\n SYNOPSIS OF CARMEN<\/p>\n Time<\/strong>: 19th Century; Place:<\/strong> Seville, Spain<\/p>\n ACT I<\/p>\n Soldiers and townspeople mill around in a square in Seville. A young peasant girl, Micaela, asks the soldiers if they have seen her sweetheart, Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9. Telling her he’ll be back soon, they try to persuade her to stay with them, but she declines. The relief soldiers, including Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9, arrive. Factory bells ring, and a group of cigarette girls emerges from the factory where they work, including the popular gypsy beauty, Carmen. She focuses her attention on Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9, who pretends not to notice. Before leaving, she seductively tosses a flower at him. Alone, Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 recovers the flower and reflects on Carmen’s charms. Micaela finds him and delivers both a letter and a chaste kiss from his mother, who asks her son to marry Micaela. Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 promises his love and fidelity to Micaela, despite the temptations of Carmen. A ruckus erupts from the cigarette factory. Carmen has injured another woman, and the officer Zuniga commands Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 to jail Carmen. But Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 succumbs to her charms. He agrees to a rendezvous and lets Carmen escape.<\/p>\n ACT II<\/p>\n At Lillas Pastia’s inn, Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercedes consort with Zuniga and other soldiers. A group of revelers arrives, celebrating Escamillo, the illustrious bullfighter. The crowd cheers as Escamillo boasts of his victories. He notices Carmen, but she remains indifferent. Zuniga, also smitten, tells Carmen that he plans to return to the inn later to visit her. When the crowd disperses, the smugglers Remendado and Dancairo try to enlist the aid of Carmen, Frasquita, and Mercedes. Mercedes and Frasquita agree to help them smuggle contraband, but Carmen, expecting Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9, wants to stay at the inn. Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 arrives, and Carmen dances for him. But distant bugles signal him to return to his quarters and he prepares to leave. Carmen mocks his obedience and encourages him to run away with her and lead the free gypsy life. Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 remains unconvinced until Zuniga returns to the inn seeking Carmen. In a jealous rage, Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 defies his officer’s orders to leave. As the smugglers pounce on Zuniga and escort him out of the inn, Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 has no choice but to remain with the gypsies.<\/p>\n ACT III<\/p>\n At the mountain hideout of the smugglers, Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 longs for his mother, who still believes him an honest man. Carmen taunts him and urges him to leave, but he refuses. Frasquita and Mercedes tell their fortunes with a deck of cards. When Carmen takes her turn, the cards foretell death for her and Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9. The gypsies set off to smuggle contraband, leaving Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 behind to guard the camp. Micaela arrives at the mountain hideout searching for Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 and hides among the rocks. Escamillo approaches the camp looking for Carmen. He and Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 exchange words and begin to fight. But the smugglers return in time to stop Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 from wounding Escamillo, who invites them all to the bullfight in Seville. Her hiding place discovered, Micaela begs Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 to return home to his mother, who is dying. Despite his violent jealousy, Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 leaves with Micaela.<\/p>\n ACT IV<\/p>\n At the bullfight, a crowd gathers to watch the procession of toreadors. Escamillo and Carmen arrive together. Mercedes and Frasquita warn Carmen that Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 is lurking about. Carmen, unafraid, waits alone for Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9. He approaches and begs her to leave with him. She insists that their affair is over, that she does not love him anymore, and that she now loves Escamillo. As Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9’s demands become more desperate, Carmen throws at him the ring he once gave her. Don Jos\u00c3\u00a9 murders Carmen, while the crowd inside the bullring cheers Escamillo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Skagit Opera is getting ready to open Bizet’s opera Carmen at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA. There will be a free preview talk with director Erich Parce & conductor Dean Williamson – including musical selections from the opera. I have seen two Skagit Opera productions: The Magic Flute and the Marriage of Figaro – both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3C0LX-6W","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"dw.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/dw.jpg\")
Dean Williamson, one of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s foremost emerging opera conductors, was until 2002 music director of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program. <\/em>He has led all of the program\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s productions, including Cosi fan tutte, <\/em>Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni,<\/em> La Cenerentola<\/em>, and La boh\u00c3\u00a8me.<\/em> <\/font><\/p>\n