An Evening with Audrey Babcock and Andrés Vadin

3:00 pm

NHCC | Bank of America Theatre

Opera Southwest and the National Hispanic Cultural Center present an homage to Bizet’s Carmen. Mezzo-soprano Audrey Babcock weaves legends of the Old World into a 21st-century musical tapestry that spans generations and genres—from classical to flamenco to tango, medieval to modern. Featuring guitarist Andrés Vadin.

$35 with discounts for students and Opera for All with a WIC or EBT card.

“Carmen. There is no more iconic woman in Operatic history. She is so singled out that her image has become mainstream and is synonymous with the Femme Fatale. There is no image, no legend, no creature, more riddled with weaponized femininity then my beloved, Carmencita. Carmen’s origin story is rich—it has been written that the author of the original novella, Prosper Mérimée, derived his inspiration for this illusory gypsy from a real-life Sephardic Jew. Though Jews were exotic at the time, Gypsies had a more solid reputation for nefariousness and made a more daring choice for his Parisian newspaper-reading audience. With ‘Beyond Carmen’ we will explore her Sephardic roots, singing in Ladino or “Judeo Spanish”, similar to ancient Castilian Spanish. We will play with the rhythms, textures, and accents of the marginalized people of the diaspora, and most of all we will sing and cry out for the misunderstood experience of being fiercely female in a time that saw a woman’s strength as something dangerous, dark, and destined for annihilation.” – Audrey Babcock

$35 with discounts for students and Opera for All with a WIC or EBT card.

For more information about Opera Southwest, please, visit their website here: www.operasouthwest.org