A passionate gypsy girl steals the hearts of men, with fatal results. George Bizet's Carmen is among the most familiar operas in the entire repertoire. The San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater brings this vibrant opera to the Lied Center for Performing Arts for one performance at 8 p.m. Oct. 15
The Lied Center main stage welcomes this special production of Bizet's compelling drama. Sung in French with English supertitles, audiences will recognize many stirring melodies and be captivated by the title character, surely one of opera's most fascinating leading ladies.
The plot is simple. Carmen arouses the darkest passions in all she meets. The gypsy girl seduces the young soldier Don Jose, then casts him aside for a new lover. The results are deadly.
For 30 years, the San Francisco Opera's touring company, the Western Opera Theater, has brought grand professional opera to many venues throughout the United States and the Pacific Rim. Western Opera Theater was the first American opera company to tour in China, first appearing in 1987. The company has presented 38 operas in more than 1,700 performances since its founding in 1967; more than 2 million people have enjoyed presentations. Often presenting in communities where professional opera is a rarity, Western Opera Theater has helped develop new audiences and introduced many to the opera world.
It is the only professional opera company to tour annually.
Critics praise the company for its excellent polished singers, handsome sets, youthful sparkle and fresh interpretations of classical opera as well as contemporary offerings. The company's repertoire includes such well-known works as Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Madame Butterfly and La Boheme as well as new works such as The Aspern Papers.
Two 15-minute pre-performance talks beginning at 55 minutes and 30 minutes before curtain will occur in the Lied Center's Steinhart Room as part of Lied's ongoing education and outreach programming.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance are $38, $34 and $30. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College students and youth 18 and younger with proper identification can purchase tickets for half price.
Call the Lied Box Office at (402) 472-4747 or toll free, 1 (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability. Box Office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. On performance weekdays, the Box Office is open from 11 a.m. through the first intermission. For evening performances on weekends, the Box Office opens at 3 p.m.
Target "Treatseat" discount coupons are available at participating Target Stores.
The Lied Center presentation of Western Opera Theater is made possible in part with generous support from Ruth Marie Amen. The Western Opera Theater is sponsored in part by the Arthur A. and Alice A. Dobson Endowment of the Lied Performance Fund.
Lied Center programming is supported by the Friends of Lied and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the Mid-America Arts Alliance; and the Nebraska Arts Council. All events in the Lied Center are made possible entirely or in part by the Lied Performance Fund, which has been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
They've sung together as a group longer than many of their most ardent fans have been alive. Since they first took the stage, in a Greenwich Village coffee house in 1961, Peter, Paul and Mary have enchanted audiences with their close harmonies and messages of activism and hope. The world's most popular trio brings its musical legacy to the Lied Center for Performing Arts for an 8 p.m. performance Oct. 17.
The Lied Center seems a far cry from that New York City venue. But the music of Peter, Paul and Mary has woven itself into the fabric of American culture, with tunes as winsome as "Puff, The Magic Dragon" and as soul searching as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "If I Had a Hammer." Indeed, their music sparks memories for an entire generation of Baby Boomers, whose 1960s-era activism coincided with the growth of "folk" music as a voice for change.
Peter, Paul and Mary are Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers (she's the one with the long, blonde hair). While each has enjoyed numerous solo projects and personal ventures since first coming together in 1961, it is as the famous trio that they enjoy enormous popularity and win the respect of many. During the 1960s, they produced 11 albums, five of which were million-sellers, and spawned 12 hit singles.
In fact, the parents of Baby Boomers, and Baby Boomers' children are even more likely to know their work as the trio crosses generations. Two children's albums, "Peter, Paul and Mommy" and "Peter, Paul and Mommy Too" were hits in their own right.
Their catchy tunes and beautiful harmonies are merely the "hook" for their true purpose as singers. These folkies have a decidedly activist mission. They live their songs. The three stood with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., in 1963 and sang to a half-million in Washington, D.C., at the Stop The War March on Washington in 1969.
After a seven-year hiatus, they reunited in 1977 to sing at a "No Nukes" rally in California, and now sing about 50 dates a year as a trio. They have sung about apartheid in South Africa, oppression of Soviet Jews, political injustice in Central America and the plight of the homeless in America.
Riding a surge of popularity due to a smash 1996 PBS broadcast of a Great Performances TV special, the trio's national tour has featured sold-out houses in nearly every venue.
Local musicians Doug Evans, Bob Barney and Steve Hanson will we playing folk songs in the lobby prior to the performance.
Tickets for this concert are sold out as well, but a waiting list has been established. Call the Lied Box Office to be placed on the waiting list. Tickets for the 8 p.m. performance are $26, $22 and $18. UNL, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College students and youth 18 and younger with proper identification can purchase tickets for half-price.
Call the Lied Box Office at (402) 472-4747 or toll free, 1 (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability. Box Office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. On performance weekdays, the Box Office is open from 11 a.m. through the first intermission. For evening performances on weekends, the Box Office opens at 3 p.m.
This Lied Center presentation of Peter, Paul & Mary is made possible in part with generous support from the National Bank of Commerce. The Peter, Paul and Mary concert is sponsored in part by the Marjorie and Gene Eaton Lied Endowment Fund.
Lied Center programming is supported by the Friends of Lied and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the Mid-America Arts Alliance; and the Nebraska Arts Council. All events in the Lied Center are made possible entirely or in part by the Lied Performance Fund, which has been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
Indian classical music on the saxophone, will be performed by Kadri Gopalnath at 7 p.m. Oct. 22 in Westbrook Hall. Gopalnath will be accompanied on the violin by Kanyakumari and Indian drum by Guruvayoor Dorai.
Tickets are $10, general public; $5 students and are available at the door and at Ticket Master, Nebraska Union or contact Bidisha, 420-6360, or email raag@unlinfo.unl.edu.
This month, the Gallery of the Department of Art and Art History features the works of two artists, Henry Chodkowski Jr. and Jean Dibble. Chodkowski is professor of advanced and graduate painting at the University of Louisville. On exhibit will be selected works from his "Mavros Labyrinthos" Series of 1986-1995.
Dibble is associate professor of art at Notre Dame University. Her work combines printmaking, photography, computer graphics and collages and reflects an ongoing meditation on her concerns as a woman. "While my work is based upon autobiographical concerns, the work itself is broader in its scope," Dibble said.
Both artists will present formal talks Oct. 30. Dibble will speak from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. and Chodkowski will talk from 4 to 5 p.m. A closing reception for both artists will begin at 5 p.m. in the gallery.
Eddie Dominguez is a ceramic artist from Santa Fe, N.M. His flamboyant artworks range from mixed media installations to pottery and reflect his Hispanic heritage and culture. He received his master of fine arts from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in New York.
Dominguez will present a slide lecture at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Wick Alumni Center. An exhibition of his work will be on display at the Gallery of the Department of Art and Art History Nov. 7-28.
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