Who is Carmen? Is she really the exotic femme fatale of popular imagination, or is there more about her story that can be told? How could this be accomplished?

Peel back the surface, says mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams – currently singing the iconic role in Edward Dick’s ★★★★ production for Opera North – and “you will find a myriad of colours, blended and burned together through the years”.

Join us for a series of conversations as creative artists, performers and academics discuss the ways in which operatic production and performance recreate Carmen in multiple ways, offering new ways of hearing and understanding Bizet’s finest score. The symposium will conclude with free refreshments and a chance to talk to participants and attendees.

A DARE symposium in partnership with the University of Leeds, led by Professor Edward Venn from the School of Music, and supported by AHRC.

Conversations include:

• Tracking the Changes – Edward Venn and Stuart Leeks (Opera North Editor)
• Who is Carmen? – Edward Venn and Susan McClary (Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music, Case Western Reserve University, and author of Georges Bizet: Carmen)
• Public Engagement in Meaning-Making – Edward Venn and Alice Gilmour (Opera North Access Officer)
• Design and Meaning-Making – Edward Venn, Dominic Gray (Opera North Projects Director) and Stephen Rodwell (Opera North Head of Costume and Wigs)
• Music and Meaning-Making – Edward Venn and Garry Walker (Opera North Music Director)
• The Performer’s View – Edward Venn and Eric Greene (TBC)

The symposium takes place on Thursday 10 February 2022, 3-6.30pm. Tickets are free and can be booked here.